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The Author, John Fisher Anderson "Off for Hawaii" 



SEEING HAWAII ON 
AMERICAN PLUCK 



BY 



JOHN FISHER ANDERSON 



Author of 



" Around the World on Eight Dollars" 
Seeing the Grand Canyon Without Money" 



Times-Mirror Press 
los angeles « california 







Copyright, 1922 

by 

John Fisher Anderson 

Pasadena, California 

All rights reserved 



M 23 '23 

©C1A69S003 



'W*- 



DEDICATION 

This little book is affection- 
ately dedicated to my Wife 
and Son, Corda and Frank 



CONTENTS 



Chapter I — Off for Hawaii. 
Chapter II — Hawaii — The Big Island. 
Chapter III — A Hike to the Heights of 

Mauna Loa. 
Chapter IV — On the Island of Maui. 
Chapter V — On the Summit of Haleakala. 
Chapter VI — Back in Honolulu. 
Chapter VII — The Passing of Hawaiian 

Royalty. 

Chapter VIII — A Week's Hiking Trip on 

Garden Island. 

Chapter IX — Again in the Metropolis of 

Hawaii. 

Chapter X — Impressions of Hawaii. 

A Song of Hawaii 118 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Author — Off For Hawaii 

Map of Hawaii 

Kilauea Volcano in Color 

The Steamer Maui 

A Hawaiian Traffic Officer 

Pineapple Plantation on Oahu 

The Pali 

Windward Side of Oahu 

Rice Mire and Buffalo 

Hilo, the City of Tropic Splendor 

Tree Fern Forest 

Military Barber Shop at Kilauea 

Daily Walks on Hawaii 

Kilauea Lava Gusher 

Cocoanut Island 

Beautiful Iao Valley 

Haleakala, on the Island of Maui 

The Silver Sword 

Sugar Mill and Plantation 

A Beautiful Home 

A Hawaiian Mother 

A Picturesque Road 

Hawaiian Flower Sellers 

Throne Room of Capitol 

The Funeral Procession of Prince Kuhio 



Frontispiece 
Introduction 



Page 



19 

20 
23 
25 
26 
28 
32 
34 
36 
39 
44 
48 
51 
57 
59 
61 
64 
66 
68 
69 
72 
75 



ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued 

My Islands 
Waimae Canyon 
Sugar Cane Fields of Kauai 
Primitive Life Quickly Passing 
Waterfalls of Kauai 
Camp Life in Hawaii 
Night-Blooming Cereus 
Waikiki Beach 
Hawaiian Surf-Riders 
In Dr. Brigham's Garden 
The Bishop Museum 
Papaya Fruit and Trees 
Primitive Hawaiian Poi Beater 
Enchanted Forests on Oahu 
Rice Planters 
Whispering Palms 



Page 



80 

85 

87 

89 

91 

93 

94 

96 

98 

100 

102 

106 

108 

111 

113 

116 



INTRODUCTION 



WILLIAM T. BRIGHAM, Sc. D. 

519 Judd Street, Honolulu, H. I., Box 584. 

Honolulu, February 18, 1922. 

Mr. John Fisher Anderson, 

My dear Sir: 

I have read your manuscript on your impressions 
of these Hawaiian Islands, and am not only pleased 
with the contents, but am surprised that in the comparatively 
short time that you have been here, you should have col- 
lected at first hand so much that is of interest and value. I 
can testify to your unusual accuracy of statement in what I 
have read and your taste in selecting photographic illustra- 
tions for the illustration of your texts and the instruction 
of your audiences. You have certainly made a most favor- 
able impression on the many who have met you on these 
islands. 

Having myself been thrice around the world in search 
of information, I am perhaps in a position to appreciate the 
pleasure in the pursuit of knowledge thus obtained ; may 
you have the even greater pleasure in imparting to many 
others the good things you have brought together with such 
industry and skill ! 

Yours very truly, 

Wm. T. Brigham. 



12 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 



CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF HONOLULU 

Honolulu, Hawaii, March 9, 1922. 

To Whom it May Concern : 

We have had sojourning within our Paradise of the Pa- 
cific, these last three months and more, my good friend, 
John Fisher Anderson, who came here to obtain first-hand 
information concerning every-day life of the peoples of these 
islands and to absorb the natural beauty and wonders which 
nature has so abundantly bestowed upon us, with the idea 
of going out among those people who may never have the 
privilege of seeing for themselves and depicting that life and 
those scenes by story and picture. 

I have been with him through his story, following him 
throughout his rides and hikes and I can vouch for his fair 
judgment and accurate description of the people and things 
Hawaiian and can honestly say that I believe few lovers of 
nature and travel have absorbed more or seen more of these 
wonderful islands than Mr. Anderson. 

He has on numerous occasions entertained, not only 
many thousands of Uncle Sam's boys in uniform but stu- 
dents and people of all classes, with his breezy travelogues. 

For his keen insight and depiction of the commonplace in 
life, I should like to dub him a present-day Dickens. We 
wish for Mr. Anderson all success possible in his journeys 
around the world and hope to see him again in fair Hawaii. 

Sincerely, 

Ernest B. Clark, Secretary. 




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CHAPTER I 

Off for Hawaii 

The geography of my boyhood days told me 
that an island was a bit of land surrounded by wa- 
ter. Since my many years of traveling around the 
"Big Mud Ball" on which we live, I have found the 
old geography definition incomplete, as it tells noth- 
ing about the charms of most islands, and especially 
those comprising the Territory of Hawaii, in mid 
Pacific, 2,100 miles from anywhere. In the short, 
romantic history of Hawaii we are told that in the 
second year of our independence — 1778 — Captain 
Cook, in his old "Wind Jammer," discovered this 
group of islands in seeking a northern passage from 
the Pacific to the Atlantic. Here he found a semi- 
civilized, happy, light-hearted people of a chocolate 
complexion, clothed and fed as nature had provided 
for them. Where they came from, no one knew — 
whether they had slid down the rainbow from the 
North Pole, or floated in from the islands of the 
sea — it is still a question. When the Republic of 
Hawaii became a Territory of the United States of 
America in 1898, our newly acquired possession, 
with their beautiful mountains and valleys, their 
tropical vegetation, and their living volcano, became 
the "Cross Roads of the Pacific." 

They had beckoned to me for many years and 
many times I had planned and experienced the 
joys of anticipation, times almost beyond number. 
Each time something happened to upset my plans 
until at last I determined to solve the financial diffi- 



16 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

culties by making the trip without purse or scrip, 
and traveling in a manner that would enable me to 
see the country from the ground up. 

Early in my life I had learned the barber's trade, 
it being, to my mind, the one best adapted to pick- 
ing up a living in any country for, hot or cold, wet 
or dry, whiskers will grow. 

So on October 12, 1921, with my barber's kit 
and umbrella and taking "no thought of the mor- 
row," I left my bungalow home in Pasadena, Cali- 
fornia, and crossing the beautiful Colorado Street 
bridge over the Arroyo Seco, started on foot for San 
Francisco. In the midst of an extensive olive grove 
that lined both sides of the highway, a driver of 
a speeding truck stopped and welcomed my com- 
pany for the second leg of the trip, the first invita- 
tion to ride having been accepted before reaching 
San Fernando. It was at Newhall, on an abrupt 
halt at a small store, that my never failing hearing 
caught the sharp voice of the driver saying, "Far as 
I'm going with this load of junk." 

His sense of humor warmed my gratitude, which 
I expressed in all the polite terms at my command. 
Undaunted and with determination I took to the 
road again. During two miles of strenuous hiking, 
while passing Saugus, fourteen automobiles flew T by 
without even recognition. The fifteenth carried a 
traveling salesman who said he was from Santa 
Monica and that his name was Charles D. Robinson. 
He also claimed to be lonesome. "I must look 85 
per cent to the good, for you are the fifteenth car 
and the first to ask me to ride," I exclaimed. 



Off for Hawaii 17 

Magnificent panoramas spread out on the Ridge 
Route, a famous American highway, and the twists 
and turns, some resembling a corkscrew, in a steady 
climb for thirty miles seemed like reaching the "top 
of the world." The ride from the summit, four 
thousand feet above sea-level, soon reached Tejon 
Pass into Lebec, a mountain resort with its single 
hotel, general store, postoffice, garage and a res- 
taurant. It was a busy day in Lebec and upon no- 
ticing numbers of people in the few establishments, 
my further acceptance of Mr. Robinson's assistance 
was suddenly declined. 

"Gentlemen, have you a barber in Lebec?" I 
asked of the crowd. 

"Bakersfield is the nearest barber we have," re- 
torted a Tejon cow puncher. 

"You are mistaken," I added, "a barber has 
just landed and I'm ready to do business." 

The announcement caught the male members 
of the audience with merriment and the storekeeper 
spoke up: "You are the most welcome guest that 
has ever flown into Lebec. Yonder in that shack 
is a barber chair. Use it." And I did. 

The whole village had received the good news 
by the time the shop, which could boast of a roof 
and three board walls, was spruced up for trade. 
Cowpunchers, a cook, storekeeper and a tourist or 
two were profitable from a financial view-point, 
while scissors, razor, clippers and tonic worked fast. 

It was a cowpuncher nearing fifty years of age, 
and long of the Tehachepi, who unfolded the story 
of Lebec while seated in the barber chair. Lieuten- 



18 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

ant Pierre Lebeque, he said, an officer at Waterloo 
at the time Napoleon was banished to St. Helena, 
had broken away from France and had come to the 
Tehachepi to prospect for gold. On an oak tree at 
Lebec appeared the inscription: "Lt. Peter Lebec, 
killed by a bear, Oct. 17, 1837." 

Late at night after three coal oil lamps had 
burned low, $9.50 reposed in the pocket "cash reg- 
ister," after expenses had been paid on my first day's 
journey of one hundred miles. This inspired a short 
session of barbering early the next morning to ac- 
commodate men on their way to work. 

A highway construction camp two miles away ap- 
pealed as an ideal place for business. The north 
end of a Fresno four-horse scraper, beneath the 
shade of an old Live Oak, served as a chair where 
cement workers, mule skinners and truck drivers, 
one after the other, were trimmed up spick and span. 

Again on the smooth, winding canyon highway 
after lunch, two occupants of a Ford appeased a 
strong appetite for a ride. The great San Joaquin 
Valley was a beautiful sight and in the dim distance 
of the sky line of the Sierra Nevadas, arose, snow- 
capped Mt. Whitney, the nation's highest mountain, 
omitting Alaska. 

By many friendly "lifts" from passing automo- 
biles and by plying my trade at every opportunity, 
I arrived in San Francisco a few days later much 
better equipped financially than I had anticipated 
and immediately laid siege to the offices of the Mat- 
son Navigation Company for some position on one 
of their boats, whereby I could work my passage to 



Off for Hawaii 



19 




THE STEAMER MAUI 

Here's to (he Maui (staunch little ship), 
And here's to the captain and crew; 

Here's to the doctor and purser, 

And here's to the passengers, too. 

May the good ship Maui sail true and straight, 
With her priceless cargo of human freigh: 

May she weather all seas and wintry blasts, 
And land in a harbor of peace at last. 



the Islands. I succeeded in making arrangements, 
and on October 19th passed out through the Golden 
Gate on the Steamship "Maui," bound for Honolulu 
as a steerage passenger. 

On an ocean voyage the passengers get ac- 
quainted quickly and soon become as one large fam- 
ily. They are out on a floating world of their own, 
where even trivial events are things of common inter- 
est. One thing to which we all looked forward was 
the gorgeous and flamboyant sunset at the close of 
each day's journey, as we plowed through the calm 
tropical sea and the balmy air replaced the autumn 
we left with the spring we were approaching. 



20 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 




A Hawaiian Policeman in Honolulu 



At daybreak on the morning of the sixth day, 
we were nearing Diamond Head and shortly after 
sun-up, we were entering Honolulu Harbor, with 
Diamond Head on the right and Pearl Harbor on 
the left. As the steamer neared the pier, native 
Hawaiian boys skillfully dived for coins thrown 
overboard by incoming passengers and the heteroge- 
neous crowd standing on the dock to welcome our 
arrival, told the story that it is here, where the roads 
of the Pacific cross, that the world race is "double- 
crossed." 



Off for Hawaii 21 

I landed on Queen Street, crossed King Street 
to Hotel Street, with their Royal palms and other 
native trees and plants which charm the traveler as 
he reaches the "Gateway to the Orient." I was 
impressed by all this beauty. But all these attrac- 
tions were not first to me, for in this whirlpool of a 
mixture of humanity, with Americans forming the 
great minority, I had to earn a livelihood. I landed 
with 25 cents in my pocket. The chairman of the 
Ways and Means Committee was my barber's kit. 

The second barber shop at which I stopped was 
the right place for me, for here a young barber said, 
"If you are looking for a real hard job, you can get 
work out at the Schofield Barracks." When I told 
him that "Hard Work" was my first cousin, and that 
we always got along well together, he gave me 
a note to the post barber, a ticket and told me to 
take the Oahu Railroad to Castner. Shortly after 
my arrival at the station in the Oriental district, 
the train on a narrow-gauge railway moved out and 
was soon winding through luxuriant vegetation. 

The harvest was in progress in the tiny rice 
fields; there were bougainvillea and hibiscus flowers, 
slender cocoanut palms, with their shaggy tops, ba- 
nana plants and papaya trees loaded with golden 
fruit. 

Then we came to the water's edge at Pearl Har- 
bor, which has more than twenty square miles of 
land-locked harbor, in which are many beautiful is- 
lands. Leaving the blue ocean, we passed through 
cane fields, each a picture in itself, where a brilliant 
display of Oriental cultivation greeted us. We passed 



22 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

upward through a gulch of cane fields and then on 
through pineapple plantations, where the harvest 
was just being finished. 

At Castner station I landed at Schofield, right 
in the heart of the Lelehua Plains, a beautiful pla- 
teau between two ranges of mountains. As I en- 
tered the barracks the sprinkling rain in the tropical 
sunlight, called "liquid sunshine," gave me a beauti- 
ful rainbow — a rainbow of promise — that I might 
never be deluged with sorrow while in this fair land. 
I stepped into the Quadrangle of the barracks, a 
three-story cement structure, adorned by the cling- 
ing vines of the rich lavender bougainvillea, and 
climbed the winding stairway past the iron barred 
door of the guard-house to the second floor where I 
found the Consolidated Engineer and Artillery 
Company and Battery Barber Shop, with seven 
chairs, electric equipment and modern in every way. 
The proprietors were two civilians, business was 
good and there was a vacant chair for me on a per- 
centage basis of sixty per cent. I was at work within 
six hours after I had landed from the "Maui," al- 
though the sea motion had not yet left my legs. 

The Post Barber Shop at Schofield Barracks, I 
found to be a very active business center, always 
crowded with American soldiers, who are generous 
to themselves when they get into a modern barber 
chair. Invariably the "buck private" nominates his 
own barber routine by saying, "Give me a hair-cut, 
shave, massage and tonic at army regulation price 
of $1.05," and "jaw-bone" which in army parlance 
means a verbal order, was the same as cash when 



Off for Hawaii 



23 




On the fresh, green uplands of Wahiawa, Oahu, are thou- 
sands of acres of pineapples like these. They grow on 
each island now, and in them are stored all the sweetness 
of Hawaii's sunshine and trade-winds. 



a voucher was signed drawing on his next month's 
pay. A soldier's credit is gilt-edged if he keeps out 
of the guard-house, and if he doesn't go too strong 
on "pay day" crap shooting and blackjack. 

The Hawaiian Division of the United States 
Army and Navy have a monthly payroll of more 
than a million dollars. 

I had my choice of company mess or a Chinese 
restaurant in the canteen. The rooming accommo- 
dations were excellent, another civilian barber and 
I being allotted an officer's cottage in the old bar- 
racks three miles nearer the mountains. 

My first night spent in the "Paradise of the Pa- 
cific," was in a modern bungalow with bougainvilleas 
climbing over the door, hibiscus and poinsettias in 



24 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

the yard, hot and cold water bath, and a mosquito 
netting for self protection, in case one of those in- 
teresting "birds" should enter when the screen door 
was opened. We were in one of a cluster of bun- 
galows which stand within the shadows of the 
Waianae Mountains, just on the edge of the west- 
ern sea. 

At six o'clock in the morning I walked to the 
post shop, always an inspiring hike with which to 
begin an eleven-hour day of labor. The rising sun 
over Diamond Head, its first rays forming a circle 
of rain and sunshine that seemed to creep on the 
ground behind me as I walked, the sweet-scented 
morning and glorious surroundings, altogether gave 
me an understanding of the meaning of the world's 
greatest Teacher, when He said, "Blessed are the 
poor" — surely here the poor can see God in nature. 

I was soon known by the name of "Dad" in the 
Post Barber Shop, and by Saturday night the work 
and vocabulary became an old story. 

Sunday I was guest of honor on an automobile 
picnic tour of the Island of Oahu, given by one of 
the proprietors of the shop, who is proud of their 
little Island World. By 8 :00 o'clock with a well- 
filled lunch basket, we were rolling over the smooth, 
winding road, down the red gulch, through cane 
fields and villages, the same beautiful country of 
which I had only a glimpse as I traveled on the rail- 
road train going out. We went to Honolulu, and 
from there the grand tour was on, going along 
Waikiki Beach, around the snubbing post of Dia- 
mond Head, through Fort Ruger, and back by 



Off for Hawaii 25 





A vista of fern-clad mountain ravines and sparkling 
sea beaches is obtained from the famous Nuuanu 
Pali, six miles from the business district of Honolulu, 
the Waterloo of Hawaii, where King Kamehameha 
the Great conquered his last enemies. 



Punch Bowl, returning through "Bungalow de Lux,' 1 
the residential neighborhood, and then through the 
Royal Garden, and on up the beautiful Nauanu val- 
ley to the Pali, which is a precipice 1,200 feet high 
at the pass where the wind blows a terrific gale as 
it sucks through this wind shaft. 

The panoramic view from this elevated winding 
hillside drive was wonderful with the rice fields and 
cane plantations, and the double rows of pineapples 



26 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

growing on the gentle slopes of the hills, spreading 
out before us and beckoning us on. 

We stopped on the seashore for our lunch, for 
which I had purchased bananas, pineapples and co- 
coanuts at the places where they were grown. From 
this spot we had a wonderful view of the cloud- 
capped mountains, with perpendicular walls and 
sharp peaks on our left and with the ever changing 
ocean on our right. 

We then followed down the winding road cross- 
ing narrow valleys, which reached up into the flanks 
of the picturesque mountains, then down again 
through the cane fields of Waialua plantation. At 
the foot of the mountains on the western sea, we sud- 
denly came upon the pretty little village of Waialua, 
where we spent a delightful hour surf bathing, with 
the setting sun displaying a gorgeous tropical sun- 




Volcanic cones on the windward side of the island of Oahu, worn 
down by the action of the elements into fantastic pinnacles, 
ridges and ravines, are for the most part covered with 
producing crops, sugar and pineapple. 



Off for Hawaii 27 

set over the waters of the blue Pacific. We returned 
through Waialua plantation and were soon back on 
the Lilehua Plains, which are covered with the en- 
tangled lantana, and on to Schofield Barracks. 

Every minute of the time spent on this tour 
around the Island of Oahu was crammed full of in- 
spiration and information. One member of the 
party was a Hawaiian school teacher, who volun- 
teered to teach me the use of Hawaiian words; to 
use V instead of W and E instead of I, the effect 
of which was like pouring water on a duck's back 
as far as soaking in was concerned. To illustrate 
certain phases of the language, I will quote the fol- 
lowing paragraph as a sidelight on Hawaiian his- 
tory : "Keoua Kalanikupuapaikalaninui, styled 
Keoua-nui, was the son of Keeaumoku-nui, second 
son of Keaweikekahialiiokamoku, King of Hawaii, 
by his second wife, Princess Kalanikauleleieiwi, 
granddaughter of Iwikauikaua." 

Ninety miles straight ahead took us around the 
wonderful little world, and brought us back to where 
we had started. I returned with a feeling that I was 
welcome, for the ocean was waving to me all around 
the Island, and the mountains and valleys smiled a 
friendly greeting. To find sufficient adjectives to 
describe Oahu is impossible. It is like a girl who 
is good-looking — she just can't help it. 

The next day found me at work again at the 
Post Barber Shop with the routine of army life, the 
bugle call, the military band at retreat, and the mu- 
sic of the cow-bell for "chow" at the company mess. 

The gentle breezes of the balmy trade winds; 







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Off for Hawaii 29 

the drifting clouds across the tops of the impressive 
mountains in front of my window; the tropical sun 
shooting golden spears of light through these clouds 
and the gorgeous rainbows, filled my heart with 
gladness because of the love of it all. An index fin- 
ger seemed always to be pointing out something in 
every view. Few of the soldiers at Schofield Bar- 
racks seem to appreciate their lot. Soldier-like, they 
always desired to be somewhere else. 

My barber kit was yielding good profits for my 
hard work, and as the days wore on, I learned that 
General Summerall, Commander-in-Chief of the 
Hawaiian Division of the United States Army and 
the National Guards, had provided a way to enable 
one hundred soldiers, in relays of ten days, to see 
the world's greatest volcano, at the cost of $11.15 
each. Two weeks' work gave me a net profit of 
$92.00, and left me a net balance over my steerage 
passage of $25.00 cash. My feet began to itch to 
see the "Big Island" of Hawaii, with its volcanoes 
and mountains, so I cashed my wage check at the 
Army National Bank, a vine and flower-covered 
bungalow structure, and was off for Honolulu. No- 
vember 11th was celebrated as Armistice Day and 
I enjoyed seeing the wonderful Hawaiian display at 
Kapiolani Park. 



CHAPTER II 

Hawaii — The Big Island 

The following day I made an investment of 
$4.32 for a steerage ticket to Hilo on the Mauna 
Kea steamer, of the Inter-Island Navigation Com- 
pany, and went aboard with one hundred soldiers, 
who had contracted for all the steerage space. 
Army Captain L. B. Jefferies was in charge and he 
welcomed me to join them, saying, "There is al- 
ways room for one more American." At three 
o'clock that beautiful afternoon the Mauna Kea 
moved out and Oahu soon faded in the distance, 
just a faint outline being discernible as the sun was 
sinking in the tinted west. 

There was a spirit of good-fellowship among 
the soldiers, the military restraint being somewhat 
replaced by holiday abandon with games, music and 
story telling on deck, until 10:00 P. M., when or- 
ders were given, "Off deck, down below." My new 
acquaintance saw to it that I had a mattress, and the 
cool sea breezes made possible a good night's rest 
even though in crowded quarters on the lower deck. 

Sunday morning, at the break of day, every sol- 
dier was up and on the upper deck to get the first 
view of the shores of Hawaii, along which we crept, 
until we were land-locked within the crescent harbor 
of Hilo. Upon landing, the railroad train carried 
us along the water's edge to the railroad station, 
and at 7 :00 A. M. there were one hundred and one 
hungry men scrambling for breakfast in a Japanese 
restaurant. 



Hawaii — The Big Island 31 

Hilo is a beautiful city with a population of 
about 10,000. Hawaii might be termed an "over- 
grown" island, for it is larger than all the other 
islands put together, although it is only 300 miles 
in circumference and is the youngest geologically. 

We soon left Hilo on the train and my fare was 
82 cents. The ride inland presented interesting 
scenes, great varieties of tropical plants, and sugar 
cane fields. We passed under wooden flumes float- 
ing the cane to the mills and up a steady grade to 
Glenwood, the end of the railroad, at an elevation 
of 2,100 feet above sea-level. Here we found three 
army trucks waiting to take the one hundred (and 
one) soldiers to the military camp for a week at 
the volcano. The soldiers climbed into the trucks 
standing packed together like asparagus in a can. 
The Top Sergeant in charge of the transportation, 
said to me, "Dad, if you are going to the camp with 
us, get in the front seat with the driver on the first 
truck." 

The truck groaned with its load up the very de- 
ceiving grade which penetrated a wonderful tropical 
jungle and a tree fern forest, with a growth thirty 
feet high whose lacy, bending boughs arched the 
road. 

When the Crater Hotel was reached, we still 
had a mile and a half of expectation and jostling be- 
fore we came to the Volcano House, where we got 
our first view of the crater of Kilauea, the largest 
continuously active volcano in the world. 

We drove a mile along the crater's edge, to the 
military camp at Kilauea, where men and barrack 




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Hawaii — The Big Island 33 

bags tumbled out of the trucks. The barrack bags 
were piled into the sleeping barracks and then the 
gong rang for "chow." There were also one hun- 
dred soldiers who had spent their week at the vol- 
cano, and were to leave on Monday so they, with 
the incoming one hundred, made two hundred sol- 
diers in the mess hall. 

In the midst of the army meal the camp sergeant 
blew a whistle for all to come to attention. The si- 
lence was as still as death itself. The announcement 
he made was, "You men who have just come in are 
to draw four blankets and are not to leave camp 
until further orders. Dr. Thomas A. Jagger, direc- 
tor of the observatory, will give a lecture on the vol- 
cano at 6:30 P. M." As soon as I had finished my 
meal I met the mess sergeant, who assured me that 
I was a welcome boarder at the regular rate of 75 
cents per day. I then found a stick and was off for 
the crater, being joined by three soldiers who had 
been there a week. 

We followed the edge of the crater to the right 
for a mile, then climbed down the steep, rocky bluff 
a distance of 250 feet (a climb a mountain goat 
would decline), to the lava flow of only last March, 
then three miles over what had been molten lava but 
a short time before, glistening like glass, and twisted 
into interesting formations resembling huge batches 
of molasses candy. Upon reaching the edge of the 
Kilauea fire pit, I stepped over cracks within two 
feet of red hot lava, just below the hard crust upon 
which I was standing. I walked around the pit it- 
self, which is about 1,150 feet wide and looked 



Hawaii — The Big Island 35 

down into the lake of fire with its magnificent views 
appearing and disappearing through the clouds of 
smoke that at times fill the pit to a depth of 340 
feet, and as the curtain would lift, I could see the 
sharp crags of peaks standing as hills of live lava 
and the influx of the liquid "gushers," or standing 
fountains, at the bottom of the pit, tumbling and 
lashing the walls. 

Leaving the volcano, famed in both legend and 
history, we reached the auto road, "The Road to 
Hell," leading through a jungle of tree ferns and 
with dead craters on either side, a district full of 
unique and wonderful interest which enticed me to 
take many hikes during the following days, passed 
the Volcano House in a shower of rain, and returned 
to camp having had a twelve-mile hike. 

I drew my four army blankets, which were none 
too many, and with a good wool mattress was pre- 
pared for a splendid night's rest. 

After "chow" I was one of the first to occupy 
a front seat to hear Dr. Jagger, the world's greatest 
volcanologist, lecture on the volcano. His scientific 
and historic explanations confirmed the unwritten 
history of the very ground under the army chairs 
upon which we were sitting. The doctor's lecture 
has been heard by audiences around the world, but 
by none as understandingly as by those two hundred 
American soldiers who heard it on the very ground. 

Monday morning the camp commander told me 
that a barber shop would be appreciated at Kilauea. 
A room was provided for me and I procured a rough 
twelve-inch board and a saw and hammer and in a 




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Hawaii — The Big Island 37 

few minutes had manufactured a barber chair. I 
had one hundred and forty customers in camp, one 
hundred having come on the boat with me. There 
was a line-up for barber work and a thriving busi- 
ness was carried on until lunch time when I closed 
up shop and was off for the crater regions again. 
At the brink I met Dr. Jagger, who gives accurate 
information to all who desire it. I told him I would 
like to spend a night on the rim of the crater camp- 
ing out, if there would be no poison gases to prevent 
it. He told me just where to camp where the sur- 
face of the earth was warm and the hot air pure. 
Five soldiers standing by volunteered to join me 
on this camping expedition. We returned to camp and 
as soon as supper was over, each took a blanket, some 
coffee, bacon, bread and raw "spuds," and walked 
three miles over the lava where we had been the 
day before, using a flashlight to see our way, while 
the red glow from the fire pit lighted the sky. We 
made camp on the crater and then walked around 
the brink watching the liquid lava lakes of every 
shape and color; gushers, or standing fountains, im- 
prisoned among the crags of tiny mountain peaks, 
while the molten lava broke against the crater wall 
almost under our feet. It was after midnight when 
I lay down on my blanket, one half under and one 
half over me. The flat surface was just warm 
enough to be comfortable — nature's heating plant 
was a perfect one. When some strange phenomenon 
would occur in the fire pit, someone would call out 



38 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

and we would run to the brink and drink in another 
wonderful display of color, marvelous in its fantas- 
tic beauty. Among soldier comments, one said, "If 
hell looks anything like this, I am going to mend 
my ways." The moon rose in the wee small hours 
of the morning making the lava waves, over which 
we had walked, glisten like glass. Later the sun 
came up over the Volcano House and cast its rays 
over this interesting sea of lava. Using a little fry- 
ing pan, such as I had used as I camped around the 
globe, I fried the bacon, boiled coffee and roasted 
potatoes over the same crack near which we had 
slept. This was the most convenient kitchen I had 
ever worked in and with free fuel provided by na- 
ture. A hole bored into this mountain would un- 
doubtedly supply the entire island with heat and 
fuel for ages. 

The first week on the big island of Hawaii was 
the greatest privilege of my life and I made the 
most of it. With headquarters at Kilauea Military 
Camp, I spent the days tramping over the lava beds 
and through dead craters, some of which are almost 
smothered by the jungle of tropical plants and 
through forests of tree ferns which mask the ap- 
proaches to all the craters. So my week was spent 
with hiking day after day over miles of lava for- 
mation and through the tropical growth until the 
soles of my shoes were worn out, but the lure of it 
all increased and I wanted to see more and more. 

On Saturday I returned to Hilo by automobile 



Hawaii — The Big Island 



39 




A Familiar View on My Daily 
Walks on Hawaii 



and while my shoes were being repaired by a Chi- 
nese shoemaker, I spent the day working in a Hilo 
barber shop earning a little money like an old 
mining prospector working for a grub stake. I was 
always eager to return to the mountains to search 
for the wonders of nature that are everywhere wait- 
ing to be unveiled to the earnest inquirer. With my 
pack bag filled with canned pork and beans, deviled 



40 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

ham and other necessities that grow out West in 
tin cans, I returned to camp. 

Sunday night, at the request of my soldier 
friends, I gave my illustrated lecture, "Around the 
World on Eight Dollars," to the two hundred men 
of the camp. 



CHAPTER III 

A Hike to the Heights of Mauna Loa 

On Monday morning the one hundred soldiers 
who had enjoyed the week at Kilauea, started on 
their return trip and two soldiers who had just ar- 
rived a week before them to see the volcano region, 
joined me for a four-days' hike. With blankets and 
rations on our backs, we were off for the greater 
heights of Mauna Loa, from whose long gradual 
slopes the meaning of its name, "Long Mountain," 
is derived. Passing through the corral just back of 
the military camp, we took the trail, as directed by 
the sign-board, and the first hour's walk took 
us through a huge forest of Koa trees, the Hawaiian 
mahogany, much prized for furniture making as it 
has a handsome grain and takes a beautiful polish. 
By lunch time we had reached an elevation of 6,270 
feet and a stone cabin where a sign read, "Volcano 
House Nine Miles." 

We saw many wild goats, or goats that had been 
lost, for they would stop and give us the "once over" 
when within a stone's throw of us and then leisurely 
amble away. 

One soldier companion was six feet two and the 
other five feet four, so naturally I called them "Slim 
and Shorty." They gave me the friendly name of 
"Dad." 

A heavy rain started falling soon after we had 
eaten our lunch and we tramped all afternoon in 
the storm. Our rain-coats did not keep us dry and 



42 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

we were encumbered by our packs, but according to 
my compass, we were going in the right direction, 
although we were not making the elevation we 
should to reach the Rest House, which was at 10,000 
feet and above the timber line. We had passed 
no forks in the trail and no signs to indicate to 
where the trail might lead. Our weariness from the 
long hike unfitted us to judge how far we had trav- 
eled. About 4:00 P. M. the rain stopped, suddenly 
the clouds lifted and we were a thousand times re- 
warded for our tramp by a wonderful view of 
Mauna Loa, covered with snow from the storm 
that was still raging on its summit. In a few min- 
utes the fleecy clouds again veiled it from our view. 
With only an hour of daylight left, we realized that 
we must camp in the open and began to look for 
firewood. The first woods we came to was a cluster 
of koa trees surrounded by a lava flow of the year 
1855, which had made its way downward towards 
Hilo. Here we found many dead trees of hand- 
some mahogany. We carried a gallon can of coal 
oil with us with which to cook above the timber line 
and it meant much to us in getting a fire started with 
the wet wood. We soon had a glowing fire and 
found plenty of water for camp purposes in the lava 
basins filled by the afternoon's rain. The generous 
use of koa wood made possible the drying of our 
clothing and over the hot coals we fried bacon, 
stewed tomatoes and made coffee. Four blankets 
for three to sleep under on the lava at 6,270 feet 
elevation was not enough for comfort, so we took 
turns, one keeping the fire burning while the other 



Heights of Maun a Loa 43 

two slept. We kept the fire glowing throughout 
the night and burned enough of the native mahog- 
any to have made a thousand ukuleles. 

The early morning air was too keen for sleep, 
so we had breakfast and were on the mountain trail 
with the light of the moon to aid us on our way un- 
til we came to a trail which was so uncertain we were 
forced to wait for daylight. The sky was clear as 
the sun rose and we were again privileged to view 
the snow-capped mountains, not only Mauna Loa, 
but also Mauna Kea — it being true to its name, 
"White Mountain." 

Not until this moment did we know that we had 
crossed the slopes of Mauna Loa and were enter- 
ing upon the slopes of Mauna Kea. We had a mag- 
nificent view of the highest mountain in Hawaii, 
capped with snow, the round crater tips looking like 
the petals of a beautiful white rose. We were be- 
tween the two volcano peaks, Mauna Loa, 13,657 
feet on the left, and Mauna Kea, 13,825 feet, in 
front of us. 

Shortly after sun-up it commenced raining again 
and we trudged along the trail in the rain until 9 :00 
A. M., when we passed through a pasture gate and 
spied a city of refuge, a ranch settlement on the 
slopes of Mauna Kea. The distance was deceiving, 
as mountain distances always are, but as we dragged 
through the meadows, which were covered with 
heavy grass, over the last hill and reached the corral, 
we were met by a smiling gentleman of middle age 
and robust appearance who said, "You have been 
through quite a storm; come right into the house 



44 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 




Kilauea gusher of red lava, beautiful 
with its fantastic colors. 



to the fire and get some hot coffee." This was the 
ranch superintendent, Dr. V. D. Shutte, of the Puu 
Oo Ranch. By this time we knew definitely that we 
had taken the wrong trail and were thirty-five miles 
from Kilauea Military camp. The beautiful in- 
terior of the house was like a dream, all finished In 
koa wood, hand sawed and hand polished, while on 
the shelves were many of Dr. Shutte's books. Puu 
Oo ranch contains 22,000 acres and has 5,000 head 
of fine Herford cattle. 

After our clothing and shoes were dry a clear-up 
hour came so we climbed the round hill back of the 
paddock where the cattle were kept, and had another 
wonderful view of the snow-capped mountains. 
We agreed that it was a God-send that we took the 
wrong trail, for our fondest expectations had been 
more than realized. 

Our arrival at the Puu Oo ranch was welcomed 
as though we had been long-looked-for invited 
guests. Our dinner that night would have made the 



Heights of Mauna Loa 45 

menu of a fashionable hotel look modest. There 
were porter house steaks, potatoes, vegetables, 
butter, all from the ranch, as well as quantities of 
fresh milk, not milked with a can-opener either. 
We had a delightful chat around the fireplace with 
Dr. Shutte, whose footprints had encircled the globe, 
and he told us many things which were full of human 
interest. 

The Puu Oo ranch house contained two spare 
bedrooms, with a double feather bed in each, and 
when bedtime came a Japanese cook escorted Slim 
and Shorty to one and me to the other. The rain 
fell all night long, so I was told, for I was completely 
unconscious until morning. Buried deep between 
the warm feather ticks, I slept soundly until called 
for breakfast. 

The day opened with passing clouds and Dr. 
Shutte assured us we were welcome to stay until more 
favorable weather, but we wanted to go on, so he 
sent one of his Japanese cowboys with us to guide us 
through the pasture and to see that we were started 
on the right trail. It was four miles through this 
pasture to the gate, where we had another wonder- 
ful view, but shortly afterwards it began to rain 
again and we tramped all day long in the storm. 
We reached the nine-mile shack with quite different 
surroundings from those at Puu Oo ranch, but they 
were none the less appreciated by three men rain- 
soaked to the skin. Under the corrugated iron roof 
of the stone cabin was a quantity of koa wood and 
an old rusty axe, so we were not long in getting a 
fire started in the fire-place. After a hike of twenty- 



46 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

five miles, twenty miles of it in the rain, we were 
ready to thoroughly enjoy fried bacon, beans, coffee 
and hard tack with a can of peaches to top it off. 

We shook up the dry leaves on the floor of the 
cabin and with one blanket as a mattress for all and 
a blanket each to wrap up in, we indulged in a restful 
doze until the fire got so low that we began to feel 
the chill. We began the relay of keeping up the 
fire in two hour shifts, as we did two nights before 
at our lava bed camp, while the rain pattered on the 
iron roof all night long. 

This was the first good rain in months and the 
water tanks were filled everywhere. On the wind- 
ward side of Mauna Kea, twenty-one inches had 
fallen in three days, as reported to Dr. Shutte by 
telephone while we were there. 

November 24th, Thanksgiving morning. After 
breakfast we left what remained of our provisions in 
the stone shack for other travelers, and with our 
packs containing only blankets, started on our way 
again through the rain. Finally the rain stopped 
and before we were out of the koa forest, the sun 
was shining brightly. With rising spirits we dis- 
cussed what we were to have for Thanksgiving dinner 
when we should reach the end of these last nine miles 
of our hike. Upon reaching camp the first thing 
we did was to get into dry clothes and then came our 
dinner of ham, cabbage and pumpkin pie. 

I went from the mess hall to the barber shop and 
found a line up for the wooden chair, so traveling 
expenses again commenced dropping in. Daily 
hikes were the order of the day and I saw many in- 



Heights of Mauna Loa 47 

teresting things — saw trees planted by Mark Twain 
and stood where Jack London wrote — is it possible 
that I have been exposed to and might catch the 
inspiration that leads to fame? 

Saturday I returned to the Crescent City of Hilo, 
for my shoe soles had again been filed off by much 
tramping over the mountain lava trails. To go to 
work that day in a modern barber shop and to wear 
a white coat, was "coming to earth" after the days 
spent amid the glories of the Hawaiian mountains. 

Monday morning was the time set for the out- 
going of the one hundred soldiers and I also bade 
good-bye to the men who remained in charge of the 
camp. 

The road to Kilauea, the world's greatest 
wonder, had become very familiar, for I had gone 
over it several times, but the luxuriant vegetation 
and the unique Japanese villages, with the houses 
standing on stilts and clustered here and there among 
the cane fields, were still very interesting objects 
to me. 

At 4:00 P. M. I was aboard the "Mauna Kea," 
having spent some of the most interesting days of 
my life on the big island of Hawaii. After all 
expenses were accounted for, I had $26.00 more 
cash on hand when I left Hilo than when I arrived. 

It was a beautiful afternoon as the "Mauna Kea" 
steamed along the northwest coast of Hawaii, over 
which the storm of the past week had passed and 
many water falls were to be seen as the mountain 
streams made their way over the perpendicular pali- 
sades towards the sea. Beyond these were the 




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Heights of Mauna Loa 49 

green cane fields, sugar mills and plantation villages, 
upon the slopes of Mauna Kea, while back of it all 
towered the snow-capped historical Hawaiian Moun- 
tain, the monarch of the Pacific, gigantic, and proud 
of its height. If one could approach the island of 
Hawaii across the oceanic plain, Mauna Loa and 
Mauna Kea would be seen to rise from their sub- 
marine base to a height of nearly six miles — a relief 
which exceeds that of Mount Everest. The average 
depth of the Pacific around the Hawaiian archi- 
pelago is about three and one-half miles. 



CHAPTER IV 

On the Island of Maui 

I had a United States mattress on the upper deck 
and was enjoying a restful snooze when the Japanese 
steward called me, for I was to get off at Lahaina. 
My soldier friends, Slim and Shorty, were up to see 
me off at midnight when the ship dropped anchor, 
lowered two rowboats and landed the passengers 
ashore. 

I was now on the island of Maui and at Lahaina ; 
— in front of the Pioneer Hotel, I took an auto- 
mobile for Wailuku, arriving there in the early 
morning hours. 

In 1790, at the entrance to the Iao Valley, 
Kamehamaha completed the bloody conquest of 
Maui and became the first ruler of the entire 
Hawaiian group. It is said that the stream was 
dammed with corpses and Wailuku, "Water of 
Slaughter" received its name from that event. 

As I walked up the picturesque "Little 
Yosemite," I could see a slight resemblance to the 
Yosemite Valley of California, as is claimed by the 
guide-books. The water flowed down the narrow 
valley and the beautiful perpendicular walls en- 
tangled with tropical vines appeared much larger 
than they really were. Crossing the valley, I made 
my way back to the other side through a dense 
growth of bananas, papaias, guavas, climbing bou- 
gainvilleas, hibiscus and poinsettias, all entangled to- 




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52 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

gether, which would be impossible to find in Cali- 
fornia's Yosemite. 

Straight in front of me as I returned down the 
beautiful valley, were the cultivated fields and then 
the bare upward slopes to the stupendous dome of 
Haleakala, luring me on to see its rugged summit, 
one of those twenty minute walks before breakfast 
attempted by mountain travelers in many parts of the 
globe. 

After lunch at a Japanese restaurant, with cape, 
blanket and kodak in my bag, a stick in my hand 
and a big idea in my head, I was off. I was hiking 
along the smooth road less than a mile out of Wai- 
luku, when to my surprise, I was asked to ride by a 
lady who was riding alone in her own car. She 
stopped and said, "Would you like a ride? You 
look as though you were out for a long hike." I 
assured her that I would and that I was. My 
hostess was Miss M. E. Taylor, employed in educa- 
tional work on the island of Maui and a woman 
brimful of inspiration and information about the 
crater of Haleakala. At Paia our roads parted and 
I had been walking again but a few minutes when I 
was asked to ride by a Mr. G. W. Steele. When we 
reached the Plantation Sugar Company's store, Mr. 
Steele saw an old Ford runabout at one side of the 
big store and said, "There is Mr. Jones' machine, I 
will introduce you to him as he goes five miles further 
up the mountain." Mr. Jones invited me to ride 
with him and when we had started up the grade he 
informed me that he was the "Trouble shooter" for 
the Haleakala Ranch, which meant that he was the 



On the Island of Maui 53 

mechanical genius who keeps the automobiles, cater- 
pillar tractors and power plants in running order on 
this ranch of several thousand acres which had boiled 
out of the world's greatest crater. Mr. Jones had 
been educated in Boston and could talk of things of 
interest in almost every part of the world — personal 
experiences during his travels. When we reached 
Makawao, a pretty little cross-road settlement at an 
elevation of 1,500 feet, he said, "I am going up the 
road two miles further, but here is the last store 
where you will be able to buy any grub." So I took 
advantage of the opportunity to lay in a supply. As 
we resumed our journey, Mr. Jones informed me 
that Mr. Smith, the ranch foreman, would probably 
be glad to loan me a saddle horse to make the trip 
to the summit unless I was morally bound to walk. 
When we reached the ranch and I was introduced to 
Mr. L. K. Smith, he gladly offered me the use of a 
horse for the next day and told me I could probably 
get a room for the night at the home of Prof. Crook. 
Prof. Crook and his daughter, Miss Rose, very 
graciously accommodated me with a room and in 
addition I found them to be a real bureau of infor- 
mation, and I also learned many interesting things 
about the Hawaiian Islands. 

At six o'clock the next morning, without dis- 
turbing the Crook family, I slipped out of my room, 
had breakfast at the Japanese restaurant and was at 
the corral soon after to join Mr. Smith and his three 
Hawaiian cowboys. The Japanese stable man gave 
me the reins of a little black horse, weighing about 
800 pounds and on the back of the saddle was a rain 



54 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

slicker and a sack of barley. Mr. Smith said, "I am 
giving you a gentle horse; he is a lazy shirker, but I 
know an old horseman like you can get along with 
'Gold Dust.' " I assured him that the little horse 
and I would be the best of friends. 

It was a beautiful morning as the five of us 
started along through the pasture and we jogged 
along the trail over the red soil, at a Spanish dog 
trot. When I told Mr. Smith that my home was in 
Pasadena, he said, "I have an uncle and a bunch of 
cousins in Pasadena." I replied, "Is William 
Waterhouse your uncle ? I know him very well and 
have enjoyed his interesting talks on Hawaii." As 
he answered in the affirmative I thought, the more 
we travel around the world, the smaller it gets. 

At the corral gate at Olinda, Mr. Smith told me 
that I could get the key of the Rest House from the 
Japanese caretaker and with a friendly good-bye 
from him and his cowboys, they were soon out of 
sight around the winding trail. I entered the en- 
closure in search of the Japanese who had the key to 
the Rest House, feeling like a country boy looking 
for a left-handed monkey wrench in a garage. I 
searched everywhere for the Japanese without suc- 
cess, called up central on the 'phone and not being 
able to find the key, finally started on. Every 
eighth of a mile along the trail was a white sign-post 
giving the distance to the summit. In crossing the 
great upward swinging plains and ascending the long 
slopes it was impossible for me to realize that I had 
reached an elevation of 4,500 feet as shown on a 
mile-post. 



On the Island of Maui 55 

The cultivated pineapple slopes and the cane 
fields below, seemed to shrink as I looked down upon 
them and the ocean spread wider and wider, the 
many colors seeming to merge into more of a same- 
ness of dark blue water. It was a beautiful day, 
although the sun was hot, and at frequent intervals 
I would walk and lead "Gold Dust" to give him a 
rest and at the same time relax my own muscles, 
seemingly newly discovered muscles since riding 
horseback. 



CHAPTER V 

On the Summit of Haleakala 

It was one o'clock when I reached the summit 
and stood on the rim of Haleakala, "House of 
the Sun." I took the saddle from "Gold Dust's" 
back, gave him a drink of water from a water hole 
in the lava and a feed of rolled barley from the bag 
he had carried all of the way up the long trail. I 
then opened a can of beans, made coffee over a tiny 
camp fire and with hardtack, chocolate and raisins, a 
delicious meal was enjoyed by a "lone traveler" who 
sat near the cement Rest House on the brink of the 
largest extinct volcano in the world and looked down 
a perpendicular cliff 2,000 feet to the floor of the 
crater, which has been silent for ages. The magni- 
tude of the walls, the vast floor covered with the 
many colors and tints of lava sand, the lack of 
vegetation, all made an inspiring impression. I 
spent three wonderful hours tramping around the 
rim and it was difficult to make myself believe that 
the crimson-colored crater was twenty miles in cir- 
cumference. From the rim the little purple cones 
on the floor of the ancient volcano looked like warts 
on the side of a man's neck and yet they were 700 
feet high. The human mind cannot picture the 
making of this island of Maui, when these cones 
were spouting fire, and when rivers of molten lava 
poured over the sides. I was sitting on top of the 
world where I could look down on every man on 
Maui and could see four of the islands of the 






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58 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

Hawaiian group in the distance; to the southwest, the 
snow-covered mountains of Hawaii, and to the north 
and west, the outlines of Lanai, Molokai and Oahu, 
tropical green patches against the deep blue of the 
ocean and, as the winter sun dropped into the 
Pacific, the shadows in the great crater made a won- 
derful motion picture that no cameraman could 
record. At 5 :00 o'clock I decided to return down 
the slopes from this elevation of 10,032 feet, rather 
than spend the night without the benefit of the shelter 
and comfort of the Rest House, denied me because 
I did not have the key. 

So "Gold Dust" and I took the soft cinder cut- 
offs straight down the long slopes. As the sinking 
sun cast its last rays of light upon the shifting clouds, 
a sprinkle of rain began to fall and a gorgeous rain- 
bow formed a golden picture frame around "Gold 
Dust" and me; while before us was the ever-chang- 
ing, fascinating view — the stupendous gorges, innu- 
merable peaks of Iao Valley, west of Maui, the culti- 
vated fields, and shrubs of every imaginable shade 
and color along the slopes we were descending. 
Dusk comes quickly in the tropics and even more 
quickly in the mountains, but we finally reached the 
pasture gate at the end of the automobile road at 
Idlewild, where I kindled my camp fire under a huge 
eucalyptus tree and had hot coffee and another can 
of beans, while "Gold Dust" had his barley. After 
a short rest we were off again down the road. The 
night was so dark that it would have made charcoal 
look white in comparison, and the lighted village near 
the water's edge gleaming in the distance, added to 



On the Summit of Haleakala 



59 




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The silversword, lonely 
guardian of Haleakala's 
barren slopes. 



the surrounding gloom. I gave "Gold Dust" the 
reins, knowing that with his horse instinct he would 
much rather trust his judgment than mine to bring us 
to the ranch. At 9 :00 o'clock I was again occupying 
the room in the Crook home that I had left that 
morning. I have traveled over mountains in many 
parts of the world, but never before had I condensed 
so much into one day's journey. 

December 1st, I started from Makawao. My 
enthusiastic hiking appearance soon prompted an in- 
vitation to ride in an automobile going my way, which 



60 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

led to the beach at Kahului. From there I strolled 
over the beautiful road shaded by tropical trees, 
passed the county race track and fair grounds and on 
to Puunene sugar mill, the largest mill of its kind in 
the world. Just as I reached there the whistle blew 
for lunch, so I entered the beautiful bungalow club 
house where the mill hands were eating in a strictly 
modern dining room, which had the appearance of 
some bathing resort hotel "down East." There 
were white linen table-cloths and silverware and the 
Japanese waiters were dressed in white coats. I 
inquired if a traveler could get a meal there and a 
good-natured Portuguese replied, "Yes, sir, you are 
welcome, the price is sixty cents per meal." I sat 
at his table and soon learned that he was Mr. 
Andrade, the sugar cooker at the mill. That was 
the best meal for the money that I had eaten since 
the "high cost of living" has been with us. 

After lunch, in my privately conducted party, I 
was shown through the gigantic mill and saw the 
cane go through the whole process from the carloads 
of stalks brought in from the mammoth cane fields, 
through the crushing and grinding process, through 
the cookers and centrifugal cylinders and then sewed 
up into sacks, ready for steamboat shipment. 
Within eight hours from the time the raw cane 
reached the mill, the sugar was ready for delivery. 

Everywhere in the islands I have found the Jap- 
anese to be the plantation laborers, all housed in 
little villages, living as they did in Japan, the women 
laboring as well as the men. 

The next day I could not resist the second oppor- 



On the Summit of Haleakala 61 




A Sugar Mill and Plantation on Maui 

tunity to see the beautiful Iao Valley where my kodak 
and I enjoyed the forenoon. After lunch I invested 
$2.00 in an automobile ride to Lahaina, crossing the 
isthmus which connects the two parts of the island, 
over barren hills, then passing along the sea shore 
where the cane fields extend right down to the sea. 
The mountain back of Olowalu, stood out boldly, 
with its tremendous gorges, like a gigantic replica 
of the bad lands of Dakota, back of the cultivated 
fields. We came to Lahaina, the oldest white settle- 
ment on the island and once the capital of the group, 
with its grove of ancient trees, a picturesque land- 
mark of the old missionary days. I spent the eve- 
ning in front of the Pioneer Hotel, watching the 
Japanese fishermen using torchlights to attract fish, 
and in a doze of sleep I dreamed of the pioneer days 
when fifty whaling and sealing vessels had anchored 
at a time in these beautiful waters, playing hooke^ 



62 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

from the cold winter of the north. Frequently I 
was aroused from my quiet rest by the personal 
touch of one of those interesting "birds" (mos- 
quitoes) that made Dr. Gorgas famous. However, 
all things considered, I had a very enjoyable evening 
until midnight, when the "Mauna Kea" came along 
and I went aboard, bound for Honolulu. 



CHAPTER VI 

Back in Honolulu 

At 7 :00 o'clock the next morning I was again in 
the "City of Charms" and at once plunged into the 
maelstrom of life, to earn a livelihood in the me- 
tropolis of the islands. 

I secured work in a little hole-in-the-wall barber 
shop on North King Street just a block from the 
docks, where the passenger traffic steps ashore from 
all parts of the world and where the skillful swim- 
ming Hawaiians are always ready to dive for nickels 
and dimes — while waiting for their "Ship to come 
in." Honolulu means "quiet haven" and is well 
named. 

In that little hole-in-the-wall barber shop there 
was no warning as to who the next customer would 
be. He would perhaps be a tourist from Australia, 
China, Japan or California; if a citizen of Honolulu 
he might be either English, Chinese, Japanese, or two 
or three, or even four or five combinations of any of 
these nationalities. One day I cut a splendid growth 
of hair on a Chinese banker, but his beard was thin 
and scattering — like a baseball game, "nine on a side, 
three out, all out." I asked him about financial 
conditions, to which he replied, "Money not much-ee 
tight now." 

As the Christmas holidays approached, the daily 
street life grew more and more brilliant in color and 
variety of dress. Christmas shoppers came to 
Honolulu from all parts of the islands, being dressed 



64 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 




A beautiful home planted in the midst 
of a vast garden of tropical beauty 
when approached from the seaward. 



in all kinds of strange looking garbs. There were 
the Japanese women with their babies strapped to 
their backs, while they shuffled along the pavement 
with their wooden shoes or sandals anchored to their 
feet by a cord extending from one side and passing 
between the big toe and the next one. Their beauti- 
fully colored kimonos hobbled them to a very limited 
stride. The Chinese women were dressed in their 
linen blouses and trousers, the blouses reminding one 
of the jacket of a man's pajamas, while the trousers 
extended down to their tiny shoes. They wear no 
head-dress at all, while their hair is slicked back as if 
with liberal applications of vaseline and coiled in a 
small knot at the back of the head, being held in 
place by several spike-like pins. The older Ha- 
waiian women were garbed in their native costume 



Back in Honolulu 65 

(a holoku, or mother-hubbard) , while American and 
European women were adorned in the latest fashions 
made from hand-made Irish and Belgian lace, which 
had been scantily designed between Paris and Pekin. 
The men generally wear straw hats and palm beach 
suits. 

The open street cars explain the meaning of that 
wonderful word "climate" as it is here used and all 
the promises are fulfilled. The business center of 
Honolulu is quite modern, while the surroundings of 
the city are most charming and convince one that he 
is truly in the semi-tropics amid beautiful, peaceful 
scenes, — extending from the coral reefs of the blue 
ocean to the brilliant and often rainbow crowned 
mountain range, just to the north of the city. 

In my daily walks, I became acquainted and fell 
in love with the charms of the city; the beautiful 
gardens adorned with endless varieties of brilliant 
tropical plants, flowering trees and shrubs covering 
the flanks of the Koolau range of mountains, while 
frequently clouds surged around their sharp lofty 
peaks. As I wandered over the mountain slopes and 
down into the beautiful valleys it was a common 
occurrence for me to stumble into a Japanese Tea 
garden beside a sparkling brook, the garden made 
beautiful and artistic by the use of the volcanic rock 
converted into the Japanese style of architecture. 

For a change of scenery, by day or by night, I 
would wander down through Chinatown and the 
oriental district, where I rambled about, questioning 




66 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

here and there to add to my 
store of information and occa- 
sionally would drop into a Jap- 
anese movie house where the 
Japanese "spieler" told the plot 
of the American play in Jap- 
anese. The Japanese and Chinese 
shops are interesting, with their 
display of various curios and 
numerous wares collected from 
the Orient to Boston. In the 
windows are to be seen paintings 
of Fujiama, scenes from the is- 
lands of the sea, Hawaii's fan- 
tastic volcano fires, fans made of 
"Race Suicide" is un- pretty feathers, American 

known among Ha- *■ * in 

waiian Japanese. 70 kodaks and Boston garters, as 
babies out of every we ^ as m any Hawaiian curios. 

hundred are Japanese. ™. . . . .. • 1 i 

1 he oriental family invariably 
lives in the rear of the shop, their domestic life oc- 
cupying very little space amid the mixed odors of 
dried fish and incense. I often wished for a clothes- 
pin for my nose. The Oriental section consists of 
many narrow winding streets lined with two story 
wooden shacks. Most of the district is "taboo" to 
the American soldiers and sailors and is policed by 
Army and Navy M. P.'s to prevent the Japanese 
"bootleggers" and others, selling their native booze 
"okolehao" to the men of the service. One night 
about 9 :00 P. M. I went down into Tin Can Alley, 
a narrow street just off Hotel Street, when an in- 
terruption occurred in this notorious section and a 



Back in Honolulu 67 

raid was made on the Chinese gamblers. The police 
patrol did a land office business and fifty "alleged" 
gamblers were given a "joy ride." 

As the days slipped by, I began to count my ac- 
quaintances and friends from among the dock steve- 
dores to the most prominent citizens of the islands. 

The shop windows were filled with modern toys, 
but the explanation of ice and snow and Santa Claus' 
sleigh drawn by reindeers must have been a difficult 
task to those with children, in this tropical land. 

Such a thing as tune had not been been invented 
by the Hawaiians up to the time of the discovery 
of the islands by Europeans. Music they did not 
have and its softening and elevating influence they 
knew nothing about until the missionaries came, one 
hundred years ago (1820). I attended the Christ- 
mas program at Kawaiahao church, this church being 
built of blocks of coral and dedicated in 1842 as the 
Royal Chapel and was permitted to join the largest 
Hawaiian congregation on the islands. The musical 
cantata, rendered by Hawaiians, was evidence of 
the wonderfully successful Christian influence of the 
devoted New England missionaries during the past 
one hundred years. The prophecy had been fulfilled 
— "The people that walk in darkness have seen a 
great light." The voices of the Hawaiians in Christ- 
mas music, with its melodious sweetness, was such 
as I had never heard before and the great throng 
that assembled to hear the wonderful Christmas 
story told in tuneful harmony, was thrilled by the 
wonderful rendition. 



68 



Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 



I enjoyed my frequent visits to the public build- 
ings, which are located on King Street, in the heart 
of the city. First in importance is the Executive 
building, formerly the Royal Palace, occupying the 
center of its own open park and now utilized by the 
officials of the territory. Across the street stands 
the Judiciary Building and in front of it, among the 
palms, is the statue of Kamehameha I. 

Old Father Time, who waits for no man, planted 
another milestone along the way to mark the jour- 
ney of life, when January 1, 1922, arrived in 
Honolulu. 

The Honolulu newsboy, in his daily grind on the 
streets, is in a class all by himself and does business 
on less vocabulary than any other newsy I have ever 
seen or heard in any part of the world. His age 
runs from four to fourteen and his garb, a shirt, 
trousers and bare feet — and perhaps a hat. He 




A Picturesque Road in Hawaii 




3 

C 

a 

c 

X 



fo 



cd 
E 



70 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

might be Portuguese, Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, 
Filipino or a combination of half a dozen nationali- 
ties. Very unexpectedly, with a few papers under 
his arm, he appears, and in a modest tone of voice 
says, "Pap, Pap." 



CHAPTER VII 

The Passing of Hawaiian Royalty 

Saturday morning (Jan. 7th) on my way to 
work, I noticed that several American flags were 
at half-mast, but the newsboys had the same call 
of "Pap, Pap," with no enthusiasm and no in- 
formation as to who might be dead. The paper 
bore big headlines and a large cut of Prince Kuhio 
Kalanianaole, announcing the passing away of the 
last of the titled princes of all dynasties of those 
islands of the mid-Pacific. 

He had been Hawaii's representative in the 
American Congress for twenty years, and a tribute 
paid him by his own Hawaiian people was, "We have 
lost our last prince and leader of the Hawaiian 
race." It had been his request that the funeral ser- 
vices be simple, but the Hawaiian people felt that 
the respect and honor accorded dead monarchs of 
the former kingdom should be shown him, so from 
the time of his passing away in his home, until his 
body reposed in the crypt in the mausoleum in the 
Royal Cemetery, all the ancient Hawaiian customs 
for funeral ceremonies were to be performed. The 
body of royalty is never moved in the daytime, ex- 
cept on the day when laid away in its last resting 
place. 

On Sunday at midnight, following the day of his 
death, the body of Prince Kuhio (the name by which 
he was familiarly known) was removed from his 
home at Waikiki beach to the old Hawaiian Kawai- 



The Passing of Hawaiian Royalty 73 

ahoa church, there to lie in state until the following 
Sunday, when the funeral was to take place. At 
midnight I saw the procession pass on its way from 
the home of the Prince, three miles away, to the 
church. The hearse bearing the casket moved 
slowly. Hawaiian men and women walked ahead, 
while the royal torch-bearers walked at the sides, 
all dressed in native Hawaiian regalia, wearing 
ahuulas (small capes made of feathers) and carry- 
ing kahilis (consisting of a long pole or stick with 
the top ends profusely and variously adorned with 
feathers of innumerable varieties of now practically 
extinct birds of the island. The kahilis pertain only 
to things royal). A flaming torch is the emblem of 
the Kalakaua dynasty, and must always accompany 
a funeral cortege of any of that dynasty. Imme- 
diately behind the hearse was the Princess, the 
widow, in an automobile. She was dressed all in 
white, a flowing white veil covering her head and 
looked more like a bride than a widow. The pro- 
cession entered the church and among those assist- 
ing the Hawaiians in the placing of the casket on 
the altar, which was covered with a robe of royal 
purple with a fringe of gold, were officials of the 
army and navy and prominent American citizens 
acting as honorary guards. The church was beau- 
tiful with the thirty or more kahilis, of different 
kinds, colors and sizes and those who were to stand 
watch or to participate in the ceremonies which 
were to follow from then throughout the week, form- 
ing an enclosure about the casket. Eight stood 
watch at a time, four on each side, each holding a 



74 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

kahilis in his hand, which was waved back and forth 
over the casket in rhythmic motion timed to the beat 
of a heart. The watch was changed every hour, 
those coming in to stand watch in their turn marched 
in and stood at the foot of the casket, bowed low, 
then took their places just behind the watchers they 
relieved, each took the kahili from the hand of a 
watcher and continued the rhythmic waving over the 
casket without a moment's cessation. At frequent 
intervals throughout the week, both day and night, 
there was singing and chanting by various Hawaiians 
and occasionally weird and tragic wailing by some 
aged Hawaiian woman, a native custom, as an ex- 
pression of the tragedy which had come into the 
lives of the Hawaiian people. The Princess sat at 
the head of the casket throughout the week, each 
day and a part of every night, being relieved from 
her sad vigil at various times only long enough to 
get needed rest and food. At midnight on Saturday 
the procession again moved. This time the body of 
the Prince being brought from Kawaiahoa church 
to the Throne Room of the Capitol Building, where 
the funeral was held. 

It rained that Saturday night. The storm glad- 
dened the hearts of the Hawaiian people, for, 
according to legend, rain at the time of death signi- 
fies that the spirit of the departed alii (royalty) has 
found favor in the heavens and that a place has been 
fittingly prepared for the royal spirit, there to abide 
in everlasting peace. 

The funeral ceremony in the Throne Room 
lasted from 10 :00 to 1 1 :00 A. M. and then the pro- 




C3 
O 



o 

-a 

c 



43 



3 



3 



O 

c 

o 



76 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

cession started for the Royal Cemetery in beautiful 
Nuuanu Valley. Only those to whom invitations 
had been issued were accorded the privilege and 
honor of attending the ceremonies in the Throne 
Room. This was necessary on account of the lack 
of space and the time it would have taken for the 
immense crowds to view the remains. I made my 
way out on Nuuanu street, where thousands had 
congregated to see the procession pass, the street 
being lined with people on both sides, from the Capi- 
tol to the Royal Cemetery. It took nearly three 
hours for the procession to pass. First came the 
Mounted Police, Military Bands, then units repre- 
senting all branches of the army and navy, cadets 
from various schools and colleges, boy scouts, civic 
and fraternal organizations, the Royal Hawaiian 
band, Hawaiian societies, and clergymen of many 
denominations. The men of the army and navy 
and the cadets and boy scouts dropped out of line 
along the way and formed a guard of honor as the 
catafalque, bearing the royal burden, passed up the 
street and into the Royal Cemetery. The casket was 
drawn by at least three hundred poolas (Hawaiian 
men) . Horses are never used for drawing a vehicle 
which bears the body of royalty. The highly pol- 
ished casket was of beautiful Koa wood, built es- 
pecially for the body of the late Prince. The pall- 
bearers, honorary pall-bearers, torch-bearers and 
kahili carriers, walked along the sides of the cata- 
falque and immediately following came the automo- 
bile bearing the widow. Bringing up the rear came 
high officials of the army and navy and all city and 



The Passing of Hawaiian Royalty 77 

territorial officials, with their staffs, making a long 
line of automobiles. 

The same honors were accorded Prince Kuhio 
that are given officers of the highest rank in the army 
and navy, a salute of twenty-one guns being fired 
from cannons at the Capitol grounds and Punch Bowl 
at frequent intervals, from the time the procession 
left the Capitol until the body was placed in the 
mausoleum. The passing away of Prince Jonah 
Kuhio Kalanianaole closed the doors to an ancient 
custom accorded members of the Royal Family. He 
had died in his prime, but his life had been full of 
deeds of kindness, he having devoted his life to look- 
ing after the interests of his own people. So, for a 
long time, the Hawaiians brought forth their sacred 
kahilis and waved them over the body of their be- 
loved dead, then put them away among their other 
sacred possessions, never again to be brought forth 
to do honor to a loved one. 



CHAPTER VIII 

a week's camping-hiking trip on the geologi- 
cal ISLAND WONDER CALLED THE "GARDEN 

ISLAND^ 

January 9th, I paid $3.65 for steerage passage 
on board the S. S. Claudine, which gave me equal 
rights with the mixed crowd of Japanese and 
Hawaiians. On the lower deck I found a clean space 
on a mat near the engine room, midship. I unrolled 
my blanket and rubber cape and was comfortable 
between the open doors of the lower deck where 
there was plenty of fresh sea air. The Japanese 
women changed their traveling clothes and that of 
their children. The babies were tied to the backs 
of their mothers, the twisting of whose shoulders 
was the lullaby which put the little Orientals to sleep. 
If the conduct of one of these youngsters during the 
evening was not what was expected by the mother, 
she would give the noisy little fellow a poke in the 
ribs with her commanding elbow which seemed to 
bring the desired result. The younger set of 
Hawaiians played their ukuleles and sang the beau- 
tiful Hawaiian melodies as no one else can sing 
them. 

Two hours out of Honolulu found us in the open 
channel and the lazy swells were not as lazy as I 
should have liked them. The uncertainty of my 
stomach had me tamed and I was contented to lie 
very quietly on the deck space which I was occupy- 
ing. After a fair night's sleep, I was aroused at 



A Week's Camping-Hiking Trip 79 

5 :30 A. M. by the lowering of the anchor, the chain 
and winch making a grinding noise which told me 
the good news that we had arrived at Nawiliwili 
Bay. The little steam launch towed a rowboat 
with the cabin passengers first and then returned for 
the steerage crowd and over a restless tide we were 
landed safely at the dock. 

I was surrounded by a crowd of Japanese auto- 
mobile drivers, who almost shanghaied me, asking, 
"Where you go? Where you go?" I considered the 
question too personal, so declined to answer and 
with my bag and blanket I started up the road in the 
dark. My first day on the small northern island of 
Kauai had begun. At daybreak I made my way up 
the hill from the village of Nawiliwili and at the 
edge of the cane field on the brink of the little val- 
ley, I made camp for breakfast. A short distance 
below I bought real fresh eggs from a Japanese 
farmer, who had a rice field, a sty for his pig and a 
pond for his ducks, all in Oriental style. With the 
fresh eggs, my jar of American bacon and coffee, 
made to suit my own fancy, I finished my first meal 
just as the sun rose over the beautiful bay. I then 
walked on to Lihua, between the cane fields on each 
side of the road, many magnificent hibiscus flowers 
adding to the beauty of the scene, and passing the 
little court house, went on to the post office opposite 
the plantation store. Then as I walked on down the 
hill into Nawiliwili gulch, with its red soil, past the 
sugar mill and on up the winding road beyond the 
school buildings, the shifting clouds made a check- 



A Week's Camping-Hiking Trip 81 

ered pattern on Mount Waialeale (5,140 feet), the 
highest mountain on the island. 

Kauai is a little world in itself, ninety miles north- 
west from Honolulu, with a circumference of only a 
little more than one hundred miles around its nearly 
circular shore. On the summit of Mt. Waialeale 
there is the heaviest rainfall in all the world, more 
than 600 inches yearly. Think of it ! More than fifty 
feet of rain ! With this amount of rainfall and a 
temperature of between 60 and 80 degrees the year 
around, one could expect surroundings similar to 
those of the Carboniferous Age. 

As I was walking along, a young Hawaiian driv- 
ing a truck, overtook me and offered me a ride. We 
rode over the interesting road with cane and pine- 
apple fields all along the way and as my new friend 
was greatly interested in the United States, it was 
an enjoyable ride for both of us. He stopped at 
the pretty village of Koloa, having given me a "lift" 
of ten miles. When I thanked him for my ride and 
was ready to start on, he said, "That is the way to 
Waimea Canyon. You won't walk far before some- 
one will pick you up." He had prophesied well, for 
I had scarcely begun to enjoy my walk and to drink 
in the delightful view of the southern slopes and 
the cane fields which spread out over the plains right 
down to the sea, when a man in an automobile 
stopped and asked, "Would you like a lift?" I ac- 
cepted his kind invitation, and had scarcely gotten 
my pack bag and myself located in his automobile 
when he said, "Is not your name Anderson?" To 
which I replied, "How did you guess it?" He said, 



82 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

"I heard you give your lecture to the men of the 6th 
division in France at the head of the waters of the 
Seine where we were located after the armistice was 
signed." Then followed an exchange of reminis- 
cences about things that happened "over there." 
Mr. John Hanson is a building contractor in Kauai. 
Meeting people like this on a little island in mid- 
Pacific, reminds a fellow of the old saying, "A bird 
never goes so far but his tail follows," and a good 
"tip" to travelers is to "watch your step." When 
we reached Mr. Hanson's destination, I started on 
foot again and soon entered the Makaweli Sugar 
Plantation, the largest on the island. 

I walked past the mill settlement and was talk- 
ing with one of the plantation bosses, when a Portu- 
guese truck-driver invited me to ride, landing me at 
Waimea, a picturesquely situated little village. 
Here I at once engaged a saddle horse to take me 
to Waimea Canyon and in the bargain, for five dol- 
lars, I was to have two double blankets for the night. 
While the horse was being fed and saddled, I made 
my midday camp at the mouth of the Waimea river 
in the shade of a beautiful tree. By the time I had 
put the match to the fire and had opened a can of 
beans and a can of soup, I had quite an audience of 
Japanese children, who gathered around and 
watched my every movement with wide-eyed inter- 
est. As I was eating my meal, the father of the 
children came out and in quite understandable Eng- 
lish told me that I was camped on the spot where 
Captain Cook (the Columbus of the Hawaiian Is- 
lands) first stepped foot upon the islands, 144 years 



A Week's Camping-Hiking Trip 83 

ago this month of January. I did not spend time, 
however, looking for his footprints in the sand, for 
my saddle horse was ready, a little gray mare named 
"Roxey." 

The stable man rode with me through the cane 
field to the water ditch, up the red slope and started 
me on the trail up the west edge of the Waimea 
gulch. The cane fields of thousands of acres, spread 
out below me with their white tassel-like plumes, 
making a beautiful picture. 

At the end of an hour's ride I had my first view 
of the beautiful canyon, with its layers of rock of 
vivid colorings — the bluffs of decomposed rock 
hundreds of feet high, stained by volcanic fires, be- 
ing first seen from the trail before it leads into the 
automobile road. It has many features in common 
with the Grand Canyon of Arizona, and not alto- 
gether in miniature. "Roxey" was a lazy little beast, 
but I succeeded in keeping her jogging along through 
scattering forests until we reached the head of the 
canyon and after passing through the pasture of 
Puukapele — 3,600 feet high — I found running wa- 
ter and a vacant tent, so with an hour and a half of 
sunlight at my disposal, I made camp. The sur- 
rounding mountains were bathed in sunlight and to 
my great surprise, there stood Mt. Waialeale, the 
most rainy spot in the world, without a cloud to hide 
it from view and the sunshine smiling upon it. 
Looming up before me in all her majestic beauty 
and grandeur, was this inexhaustible water center, 
while the deep gorges, weathered by the ages, spoke 
eloquently for nature in erosion, which had carved 



84 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

out the twisted canyons that reached far back into 
the flanks of the mountain in every direction. 

I took the saddle off Roxey's back, tied the lar- 
iat to a small bush in a green meadow on the moun- 
tain slope, then watched the shadows in the canyon 
dissolve the many shades and tints of green and 
purple and yellow and red and merge them all into 
a dark blue as the sun dropped from sight behind 
the little Island of Niihau. The moon was three 
hours high when the sun went down and the canyon 
seemed to flatten out as the moonlight fell between 
the towering walls. There could not have been a 
more beautiful night for camping out and as I busied 
myself around the glowing camp-fire it really seemed 
selfish for me to enjoy it alone. So far as I knew 
there was not another living human being within fif- 
teen miles of that spot. 

Camp life in Hawaii is ideal, with temperature 
nearly the same day and night, except on the high 
peaks and no wild animals or snakes to fear. My 
only discomfort was caused by mosquitoes. I would 
be no more surprised to find a battleship in a desert 
than I was to find mosquitoes at that high altitude. 
However, my pack bag contained a mosquito net- 
ting, which proved to be of great value to me there, 
my first night on Kauai Island. Since my arrival on 
the steamer that morning, I had traveled twenty-six 
miles by boulevard and fifteen miles on horseback. 

After a glorious moonlight night, the second day 
began with a gorgeously colored sunrise over the 
summit of Waialeale's domes and peaks, this moun- 
tain where nearly always are to be seen clouds and 



A Week's Camping-Hiking Trip 



85 



rain. After breakfast I threw my coffee grounds 
and dish water over the canyon's rim into 3,000 feet 
of space. 

Returning over the same trail, the slopes became 
more familiar as I neared the stable and when I 
reached there, I bade Roxey good-bye and started 
on my journey a-foot. 

On the banks of the Waimea river, I enjoyed 
another mid-day meal. Then just after crossing the 
steel bridge an automobile came along and I was in- 




Horseback to the summit of Waimae Canyon. There is a 
wonderful diversity of scenic attraction to be found in 
comparatively small area in the Hawaiian Islands. The 
seacoasts offer marvelous opportunity for the artist or 
photographer. 



86 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

vited by the Japanese driver to ride and went with 
him as far as the Makaweli Sugar Mill. I was 
shown through this mill, which belongs to the lar- 
gest plantation on the island. 

There are 30,000 persons on the island and I 
noted one automobile numbered 1,647, so you see 
I had many chances to ride. The climate is ideal 
and the scenery beautiful. The people are hos- 
pitable and the combination of the three puts a hik- 
ing-camper in luck while seeing the "Garden Island." 

Leaving the main road at Koloa, I spent a 
delightful night on the seashore — after a dip in 
the surf. I had a splendid sleep on a bed of pine 
needles on the volcanic rock near the Spouting Horn, 
which is a curious rock formation where the waves 
rush into lava tubes and force the water high up 
into the air in geyser fashion. 

Returning over the same road to Lihue, I set 
out for the other side of the island and enjoyed the 
splendid panoramic view of ocean and mountains, 
with the surrounding verdure-covered crags, the cul- 
tivated cane fields, pineapple and banana plantations 
and cocoanut groves, leading to the ocean's edge. 
When I reached the pineapple cannery at Kealia, it 
was "quitting time" on the plantation, and Filipinos, 
Japanese and Portuguese laborers came pouring in 
from every direction. As I walked up the long slope, 
I was joined by a Portuguese laborer from the cane 
fields. In his mixture of tongues, the old man told 
me his life story. For twenty-six years he had been 
a laborer on one plantation. His daily wage was 
one dollar a day for a hard day's toil. The old man 



A Week's Camping-Hiking Trip 



87 



summed up his daily grind of life by saying, "Wage 
come down, but Kau Kau (living) no come down. 
Me get house, light, water." 

The sugar plantations are only utilizing 75 per 
cent of their capacity for the lack of plantation la- 
bor. The wage of a dollar a day is not very attrac- 
tive to Europeans, Americans or Hawaiians, most 
of whom think themselves above common labor and 
are going around as a "boss" with a pencil behind 
their ears and a blue print in their hands just playing 
"hookey" from a pick and shovel, or other honest 
toil. 

A young Chinese who lived in the little village 
of Anahola, nestling in the pretty valley, invited me 
to ride with him. When I spoke of camping out, 
Mr. Kum, a gentleman of education, said, "My wife 




Sugar Cane Fields of Kauai 



88 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

is the school teacher at this school and vou are wel- 
come to occupy the cottage, which has a good bed." 
He could scarcely understand why I preferred to 
sleep outside even though the weather was beauti- 
ful and I was on a camping trip. I made my camp- 
fire in the corner of the county school yard in a clus- 
ter of small pine trees. Just back of the bungalow 
schoolhouse towered two sharp mountain peaks, 
Mt. Kalalea and Mt. Konanai, which can be seen 
for miles. Three young Chinese were guests around 
my camp-fire and they asked many intelligent ques- 
tions about America. One of the young men (a 
brother of Mr. Kum) brought me a mattress and a 
clean sheet to make me comfortable, since I would 
not occupy the cottage. He also brought several 
strips of Chinese mosquito punk which I placed at 
the head of my bed on the ground and the fumes 
did their work in keeping the mosquitoes away as I 
"lay me down to sleep." The wash of the ocean 
waves lulled me to sleep while the incense from the 
Oriental punk, induced dreams of being in a Chinese 
Joss House. 

Friday, being also the 13th, indicated that it 
would be a day of good luck for the traveler and 
the day began with bright sunshine and a cloudless 
sky. My breakfast consisted of pineapple from the 
fertile slopes of the mountain and fresh eggs from 
the nearby chicken coop — eggs are one thing over 
there which do not stay long where they are laid. 
While most of the eggs used in Hawaii may be first- 
class when they start on their long sea voyage, they 
lose classification enroute and many arrive steerage. 




* "v J 



As a land so blessed with wondrous 
beauty and climate as Hawaii, it is 
regrettable that quaint and primitive 
life in the islands is quickly becoming 
a thing of the past. 



90 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

By early dawn I was walking through a pineapple 
plantation of many thousand acres, which made it 
convenient to occasionally quench my thirst with the 
juice of the delicious fruit. 

It is quite evident that many of the Hawaiian- 
born Chinese are progressive business men, for a 
young fellow came along in his six-cylinder automo- 
bile and invited me to ride. We rode along through 
several plantations, quaint villages and rice fields, to 
Wainiha Valley, that being his destination. His 
keen interest in my desire to see as much as possible 
of his native island, prompted him to volunteer to 
take me to Heana Point to see the lava caves. These 
are interesting caves at the sea-level, extending for 
unknown distances through old lava channels under 
the high cliffs. At the north end of the mountain 
range, the lava formation on the sides and the roofs 
are twisted into rope-like columns. One of the caves 
was filled with fresh water from subterranean 
seepage. 

I bade goodbye to my Chinese friend and turned 
back on the road which led on down to the beauti- 
ful valley bottom, with its charming river winding 
gracefully between fields of vivid green rice, with 
little clusters of Japanese houses here and there and 
an occasional native Hawaiian grass house, such as 
I had found on the other three islands. 

The Japanese own most of these little irrigated 
valleys where they are tickling the fertile soil with 
their fingers in real Oriental fashion. More than 
65 per cent of the population of Hawaii is Japanese 
and from my personal observation in visiting the 




Waterfalls of Kauai. 



92 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

schools in many villages, I would say that the chil- 
dren are nearly all of that race (seventy-one babies 
out of every one hundred are Japanese). When 
Uncle Sam takes his next census of his new territory, 
he will find that the Japanese family is increasing 
very rapidly, the Hawaiian Islands being Uncle's 
Japanese incubator. 

Walking perhaps ten miles between rides I 
reached Lihue. I made camp under the broad leaves 
of some banana plants, while above them towered 
graceful cocoanut palms and the ground was car- 
peted with green velvet-like grass. 

The most unusual thing about my tramp on the 
Garden Island was that there was not a single rain- 
fall during all the time, only an occasional bit of 
"liquid sunshine." 

The fourth night I slept on the ground. My 
method of sight-seeing, camping out and hiking, had 
attracted considerable attention, for everybody 
knows who comes and goes on this island, and I had 
been kindly treated by all whom I met. Once when 
I walked through one of the large sugar plantations, 
the Portuguese engineer on the little cane train 
stopped his train to give me a ride. 

This is the oldest island geologically and is truly 
a wonderful spot, which has been thrust up from the 
great depths of the ocean by volcanic action and 
whose single crater has spewed out the foundations 
for its circular shores. The tremendous rainfall has 
speeded up the age-long action of erosion covering 
those foundations with decomposed rock and leav- 
ing the mountain with its deep and ragged gorges, 







'a, 

o 

h 

c 



e 

U 



94 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

making it appear as if some giant tiger had scratched 
and gnawed it. The plentiful water supply and the 
semi-tropical climate soon covered the valleys with 
a carpet of green so that today it is worthy of its 
name, the Garden Island. 




Under the southern moon, the glorious 
night-blooming cereus of Hawaii 
opens in lovely splendor. 



CHAPTER IX 

Again in the Metropolis of Hawaii 

Sunday afternoon, after five days and four 
nights on this delightful island, I again took pas- 
sage on the S. S. Claudine for Honolulu, where I ar- 
rived the next morning. My expenses for the week 
of sight-seeing amounted to $16.50, which included 
steamer fare, horse hire and camping expenses. 

The next day I obtained employment in the bar- 
ber shop of the Army and Navy "Y" and Mr. 
Evans, formerly of Ohio, my congenial employer, 
asked me if I would take charge, as he wanted to 
visit one of his eighteen children on the Island of 
Maui. Mr. Evans is very proud of a letter of con- 
gratulation from the late Mr. Roosevelt, upon his 
large family. 

Most travelers who visit Honolulu, travel to 
and from the Orient and those who spend a few 
hours in the city between boats, will not die from 
indigestion of the brain from knowledge they gather 
of Hawaii. Humanity is the same in all parts of the 
globe, doing all they can to get ahead, instead of 
getting something in the head they already have. 

Of my six months in seeing Uncle Sam's new 
territory, four of them were wonderfully spent on 
the Island of Oahu, in and around Honolulu. The 
world famed surf-riding at Waikiki Beach, was de- 
lightfully enjoyed many times on a surf board of 
beautiful Hawaiian mahogany. With the tempera- 
ture of the air at about 70 degrees, I would push and 



96 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

tow my rented board from the sandy beach while 
the cocoanut palms, so slender and graceful, seemed 
to watch as I, with natives and tourists, swam out 
to sea and then rode back on the incoming surf. 
Sometimes I was riding the board and other times 
it was riding me, but it was grand mid-winter sport in 
a land where the meaning of the word winter is un- 
known. 

The natural beauties of Hawaii are very fasci- 
nating. The history of it, I found to be most inter- 
esting. In the short period of one hundred and fifty 
years, the Hawaiian race has almost vanished. I 
found Bishop Museum most interesting and in it 
saw the most precious product of Hawaiian feather 
work, the famous robe of Kamehameha I. The 
gathering of feathers for this robe required a hun- 
dred years and the cost has been estimated at a mil- 
lion dollars. There are also feather helmets, fam- 




Waikiki Beach has the "ol' swimmin' hole" beaten forty ways 



In the Metropolis of Hawaii 97 

ily poi bowls and finger bowls in which the Royal 
Family had washed their sticky fingers and then 
wiped them on perfumed leaves, which have been 
handed down through generations of the Hawaiian 
race. "One fingered poi" and "two fingered poi" is 
a lost art — poi is now made by machinery and is 
eaten with a spoon. Poi was the native food eaten 
by the Hawaiians and is a gray mush that looks 
like tombstone dust and is made of tero root, a veg- 
etable grown under water. The visitor who comes 
to Hawaii and expects to find Hawaiians beating 
poi with a rock and clothed as nature found them, 
must remember that their visit and that of Captain 
Cook, are one hundred and fifty years apart, and no 
influence modernizes more quickly than American 
influence. 

In visiting the Kamehameha school with its beau- 
tiful grounds, in a western suburb of Honolulu, a 
company of Hawaiian boys gave me a wonderful 
demonstration of real army calisthenics, drills to the 
tune of "Yankee Doodle" played on the banjo and 
ukulele, on the green lawn in front of Bishop Mu- 
seum. No regular soldiers could have done better 
and some of these Hawaiian youths were as young 
as twelve years. Princess Brenice Pauahi Bishop, 
the founder of the Kamehameha School, endowed 
this splendid and well equipped institution in which 
to educate the youth of her race, the Hawaiians. 

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon I returned 
from a walk to the Pali and arrived at the grounds 
of the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu Valley in time 
to see the boys and girls of Kamehameha School en- 



In the Metropolis of Hawaii 99 

ter the Royal Cemetery to pay homage to the mem- 
ory of the late Princess Bishop, at the annual memo- 
rial services. They marched between the royal 
palms to the front of the tomb, where they gave a 
musical program, the Royal Hawaiian Band taking 
part. The passing of the late Prince Kuhio and the 
limited number of the Hawaiian youth, means the 
writing of the final chapter of history of the 
Hawaiian people before many more years have 
rolled around. 

I have made many helpful acquaintances of au- 
thors of song, poetry and history, who have spent 
long lives in the "Paradise of the Pacific" and who 
spare no pains in imparting their treasure of knowl- 
edge to others. I was most fortunate in meeting 
Dr. William T. Brigham, who was sent by Harvard 
University in 1864, to Hawaii and was privileged 
to spend many hours with him, a real, living ency- 
clopedia. He is the father of scientific and historic 
Hawaii. For sixty years he has been studying these 
islands and knows more about them than any other 
living man. It was he who established the Bishop 
Museum and many of the remarkable collections of 
specimens were gathered by him. I asked which he 
liked the best, roast pig or roast dog, cooked in the 
same fashion on hot rocks covered over with earth 
— the original fireless cooker — and with a most de- 
lightful smile, he said, "Roast dog is more deli- 
cious." This grand old man is 81 years old, has 
been three times around the world and speaks many 
languages. He is the best posted and the most in- 




In Dr. Brigham's Garden 



In the Metropolis of Hawaii 101 

teresting man that it has ever been my privilege to 
know. 

One man, when asked where he lived, said, "I 
live up the famous Nuuanu Valley and my house 
is just above the second shower." 

In this favored land of beauty and attractiveness 
of scenery and charm of hospitality, it has been a 
real pleasure to be one of its people in everyday 
life, where I could twist my legs around a lunch- 
counter stool in a Chinese restaurant, beside a 
Hawaiian policeman or a street car conductor, eat- 
ing poi with a spoon; or beside an American soldier 
ordering ham and eggs and French fried potatoes. 
I was also an invited guest at an Ad Club luncheon 
in the Blue Room of the Young Hotel and to an 
excellent Christmas dinner at the home of W. L. 
Hopper. 

A few lecture engagements enabled me to renew 
acquaintances with people from many parts of the 
world, especially the American soldiers and sailors. 

Honolulu has hotels to accommodate and suit 
the pocketbook and taste of every class of visitor, 
from cheap chop suey restaurants and Japanese 
rooming houses, with a matting for a bed and a 
block of wood for a pillow, to the modern American 
plan hotel, most beautifully located. With all my 
intermingling in this "melting pot" of humanity, I 
felt most at home at the Army and Navy Y. M. C. A. 
This is in the heart of the city, occupying what was 
formerly the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, famous for 
fifty years for its hospitality. The beautiful white 
building, made of blocks of coral from the reef in 





b OS 



In the Metropolis of Hawaii 103 

the ocean just outside the harbor, nestles in the shad- 
ows of towering royal palms within a garden spot 
of mango, banana, alligator pear and papaia trees 
and many varieties of flowers and shrubs and bloom- 
ing trees. It is now a world-famed social center of 
interest for the soldiers and sailors in Honolulu, 
whether they be stationed there or just breaking the 
monotony of a long sea voyage to or from the 
Orient. They have four hundred comfortable beds 
and serve refreshments at a very moderate price, 
while the entertainment provided is wholesome and 
uplifting. The Sunday afternoon lobby services 
conducted by Dr. John W. Wadman, a wonderful 
"mixer" who provides a program of the best and 
keenest talent that arrives in Honolulu, are always 
helpful and interesting and are followed by light 
lunch on the lanai (veranda) to all the men of the 
service who will come. 

Mrs. Eleanor Hazzard Peacock, the soloist and 
reader, is affectionately known by the men of the 
service as "Mother Peacock." 

In summing up my six months' glimpse of the 
Hawaiian Islands, from October to April, I found 
that the rainfall in Honolulu and vicinity averaged 
about one inch per week, with frequent showers and 
sunshine alternating and a temperature ranging from 
65 to 75 degrees. A Japanese umbrella is commonly 
used as a protector from the rain while on the 
streets. My wardrobe consisted of a hiking suit and 
a palm beach suit. In some measure I am familiar 
with most of the places where tourists go who are 
looking for a place to play "hookey" from winter 



104 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

weather and the undertaker, but I know of no spot 
in the world that offers more in climate, charming 
beauty, attractiveness and human hospitality, than 
the Hawaiian Islands. If this "Out Post" of Uncle 
Sam's were located six days by steamer from New 
York, as it is from San Francisco, many of the south- 
ern European resorts would be for rent, so far as 
American travel is concerned. 

I did not knock when I entered the Hawaiian 
Islands and I am not going to knock when I go out. 
I have learned to love our new territory and since 
I have hugged it close to me, I feel that it is mine 
and am anxious that all the world should see and 
enjoy it. 



CHAPTER X 

Impressions of Hawaii 

The Hawaiian Islands have a population of 
about 250,000, of which 65 per cent is Japanese, 
the other 35 per cent being made up from the four 
corners of the earth. The Hawaiian-born Japanese 
are citizens of the United States and it is commonly 
predicted that in about seventeen years they will 
control the elections. They are very prolific, the 
large family being the usual thing. It is very com- 
mon to see families of six to eight children (all of 
them small) and the conditions are so favorable 
that it is no great problem for their parents to pro- 
vide for them. They raise plenty of rice and fruit. 
Clothing and shelter is of secondary importance. 
However, they are good truck farmers and in the 
little valleys, where nearly all the land is owned by 
them, they are producing more per acre than could 
or would be done by any other people. While it is 
common for the Japanese to boast that in a short 
time the Americans will be working for them, they, 
as well as other "foreigners" on the islands, are un- 
der the American influence and therein lies the solu- 
tion of the problem. Education and the proper ab- 
sorption of American ideals, should make them so 
proud of being citizens of the U. S. that, it is hoped, 
we need have no apprehension on their account. 

Like the British Isles and Japan, Hawaii is far 
from being able to produce what she requires and 
is dependent on water transportation for most of 




Papaya has been called "the melon that 
grows on a tree." This is a good view 
of a tree and fruits. 




Papaya Fruit Cut Open. 



Impressions of Hawaii 107 

her needs. While there are many varieties of deli- 
cious fruits, most of them are only raised in suffi- 
cient quantities for their own use, but they have 
large tonnages of sugar, pineapples and bananas to 
offer the world in return for their requirements. 

The majority of the large business houses in the 
cities are English with "Limited" as a suffix to their 
names. 

As homegoing time approached, I became active 
in my endeavor to connect myself with the crew of 
some ship bound for San Francisco. I registered 
with the employment clerks of the two principal 
steamboat lines and after I had worn the trail 
smooth by my regular and frequent trips, I was in- 
formed that a freighter was to take on a cargo at 
several of the islands and return to San Francisco, 
and that her chief cook had been taken to the hos- 
pital upon her arrival in port. I was given a pass 
to the chief steward and on going aboard, was in- 
formed by that dignitary that he had put the second 
cook in the chief's place, but that I could have the 
place as second cook while they made their cargo 
tour of the islands and upon their return to Hono- 
lulu, if the chief cook were not sufficiently recovered, 
I could continue with them to San Francisco. I took 
a chance as work on ships bound for the mainland, 
was hard to get out of Honolulu. The chief stew- 
ard took me to the galley and introduced me to a 
pompous little, dark-skinned Cuban who was to di- 
rect my labors; then showed me my sleeping quar- 
ters, which were with the chief cook, butcher and 
baker. 



108 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

The steamer left the dock about midnight and 
the next thing I knew the night watchman thrust a 
flashlight in my face and said, "Cook, five o'clock. 
Turn to." He imparted the same information to 
my roommates and I followed my chief down the 
companionway to begin my first day's labor in the 
ship's galley. He lighted the oil burners in the three 
ranges, I put on a large pot of water for oatmeal 
mush and got steaks, chops, ham, bacon, etc., ar- 
ranged on the work tables for quick action when the 
meal started. The work tables ran parallel to the 
ranges and were but six feet from them; there were 
no electric fans and but two small port holes; so 
with stirring in the mush in the boiling water over 
the hot range, frying French fried potatoes and 




A splendid conception of the picturesque life and environment 
of the primitive Hawaiians is now possible by the intro- 
duction of added features to exhibits placed at Bishop 
Museum, Honolulu. 



Impressions of Hawaii 109 

many individual orders of chops, steaks and eggs, 
I was mighty glad that with the cook's uniform they 
had furnished me, there was included a large towel. 
I have read that the human body is composed of 95 
per cent water, but from the way I perspired, I be- 
lieve the figure is too small. 

Before we had delivered the breakfast to the 
pantry department, I saw I was due to suffer for 
not accepting the invitation of my chief to a stud 
poker party the night before, for instead of showing 
me what was expected and explaining the work, he 
would wait until the order should have been ready 
to serve and then call attention to my incompetence. 

At 9 :00 A. M. we dropped anchor at Kohulu, 
the sugar shipping port of Maui. After getting the 
roasts and boiling meat on for lunch, I went out on 
deck to get some fresh air and could see the beau- 
tiful Iao Valley, a wonderful valley of smiles, rain- 
bows and tears, with its perpendicular walls and 
marvelous colors. I spoke to my shipmates about 
the wonderful scenery, but they saw nothing more 
interesting here than at any other seaport. "Hav- 
ing eyes to see, they see not," and being so long at 
sea, they care not. 

As we were serving dinner, the anchor was 
raised and by the next morning we were skirting the 
Island of Kaui, and I was able to pick out many 
objects made familiar by my former visit. We an- 
chored off shore and tug boats brought out sugar 
and pineapples until the supply was exhausted. We 
arrived at the Honolulu dock Friday morning. 
The butcher had fallen down the companion stair- 



110 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

way and broken his leg and one of the oilers in the 
engine room had his hand badly crushed by getting 
it caught in a gear. It was welcome news to me 
that the chief cook was sufficiently recovered to re- 
sume his work. I was glad to be relieved of the 
necessity of traveling to San Francisco in the com- 
pany of the little Cuban cook who took every op- 
portunity to impose upon me and vent his spleen 
against me. He always carried a cigarette over one 
ear and a match over the other, I judged for ballast, 
for when they were removed he had very little left 
above the ears. 

As soon as the boat was tied up to the pier, she 
commenced taking on the remainder of her cargo in 
earnest. Raw sugar in 100-pound sacks was ele- 
vated through the roof of the warehouse and 
dropped into metal "corkscrew" chutes which de- 
livered it to the bottom of the hold, where Hawaiian, 
Japanese and Chinese laborers clad only in trousers, 
stacked it in solidly until the little freighter had 
7,000 tons of sugar in her hold. 

When the chief steward informed me that the 
chief cook would be able to return with them to San 
Francisco, I immediately went to the purser's office 
and asked to be paid off and drew $8.00 for my four 
days' work. The compass of the ship did not point 
toward San Francisco for me. 

A few days later the Hawkeye State, a passen- 
ger steamer "de luxe" on her second voyage from 
New York to San Francisco via the Panama Canal, 
arrived in port and I learned she was short a cook. 
Obtaining a pass from the clerk of Castle and Cook, 




It is in the uplands of Oahu that one finds the "en- 
chanted forests" of that island. No camera can depict 
the glorious green, purple, tawny and silver tints of 
those mountain fairylands 



112 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

Ltd., I went aboard the floating palace and found 
the steward who took me to the chief cook, a re- 
markably well proportioned man weighing about 
235 pounds, who was evidently well worthy the 
title of "chief." He was a typical French chef, al- 
though an Italian, and his picture would have graced 
an advertisement for any food. He questioned me 
regarding my experience and then told me I would 
be able to fill the bill as "ship's cook," the cook that 
cooks for the ship's crew, and added, "You won't 
have very hard work as we will all help you out 
until you get acquainted with your duties." I went 
to the shipping offices of Matson Navigation Com- 
pany and "signed on," the clerk underscoring the 
clauses, "I will not take any liquor on board and 
will work to handle the cargo if called upon by the 
master of the ship." Upon signing the contract, I 
became a member of the ship's crew, so with my 
dunnage bag on my shoulder, I went up the gang 
plank, which landed me on "B" deck, and was shown 
the cook's quarters. 

"B" deck contained the saloon, dining hall, pan- 
try and galley mid-ship, with staterooms fore and 
aft. As I passed the staterooms in going to the 
cook's quarters, I noticed their palatial furnishings, 
the heavy plush rugs, mahogany twin beds and other 
conveniences that make traveling comfortable, but 
after all there was only about 20 feet in distance 
and $20.00 in price separating me from the first 
cabin passengers, — and in the cooks' quarters we 
also had twin beds, but they were arranged one 
above the other and were made of steel tubing in- 




s 

.5 
c 

03 



C 

n 

On 



114 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 

stead of mahogany. My roommates were the chief 
baker and his second and the smoking room steward, 
all of whom had sailed the seas many years and had 
been "stewed" in so many seaports of the world 
that they thought they were "hard boiled." 

My good-natured chief introduced me to the 
other three cooks, assigned me the end range and 
gave me a printed menu for each day of the week, 
then told me to ask any of them if I needed 
assistance. 

There was a marked contrast between the con- 
ditions here and those I had found on the freighter 
and the difference was not so much in the larger 
space, the electric fans and the other comforts, as 
it was in the attitude of the chief and the other cooks. 
You can tell the difference between a jackass and a 
gentleman any place you meet them. 

However, the job of cooking for the ship's offi- 
cers and crew of eighty men was no sinecure. The 
first thing in the morning I made a 20-gallon batch 
of oatmeal mush, then put several large open pans 
full of ham and bacon in the ovens, dropped frozen 
chops and steaks into 24-inch frying pans containing 
hot grease (which requires considerable skill to keep 
from being burned), and at the same time handled 
six individual orders of eggs from soft boiled to 
scrambled. For the other meals there were roasts 
and stews, macaroni and cheese, potatoes in many 
styles and a great variety of ordinary "grub," but 
the chief saw that I was doing my best and came to 
my rescue many times and with a few swift move- 



Impressions of Hawaii 115 

ments and a few kindly words of advice turned 
catastrophe into success. 

The Hawkeye State went from Honolulu to Hilo 
and remained a day to allow the passengers to see 
the volcano, then back to Honolulu and set her 
course for San Francisco. My last glimpse of 
Hawaii, was to me a gold mine of delight, with its 
strange mixture of the tinge of the Orient and a 
picnic ground in itself. 

Time passed very quickly for me on board the 
boat. Besides twelve hours of hard work, there 
were many things of interest to occupy my attention 
when off duty. There were a large number of ne- 
groes in the steward's department and "African 
golf" occupied their time at every opportunity, 
whether on duty or off. When two would meet in 
the hallway, out of sight of the steward, one would 
produce a pair of dice, drop a coin on the deck and 
declare, "I am right, who says I ain't." And it 
would generally take several "passes" to settle the 
question. 

The last dinner before reaching port is called by 
the cooks, the "Captain's tuxedo dinner party," at 
which are served roast duck, turkey, chicken, etc., 
and is the event of the voyage, for the waiters, for 
then the passengers distribute their tips. That night, 
after their duties were finished, there was a grand 
reunion in the "Glory Hole" (the lower deck), and 
the tip money was redistributed to the tune of many 
quaint sayings. I heard one son of Ham, who was 
pleading with the dice inform them, "My baby ain't 
got no shoes," — which was true with many of them 




The Last Glimpse of Beautiful Hawaii and Its Nodding, 
Whispering Palms. 



Impressions of Hawaii 117 

as well as with the white sailors for "rolling 
the bones" seemed to be almost a universal habit 
among the members of the crew. To hoodoo the 
dice, one would say, "You can't eight, you can't 
eight, Adam and Eve were deceived in a 'pair-a- 
dice.' " 

The morning of the seventh day out of Hono- 
lulu, as I passed through the pantry for my hot rolls 
and coffee with which to begin my day's duties, I 
looked out of a port hole and saw that we had passed 
through the Golden Gate and were at anchor near 
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. By 8 :00 
o'clock, the "Hawkeye State" was tied up to her pier 
and I was making arrangements to get "paid off" 
and go ashore. I was informed that those who had 
signed on for "Frisco" would be paid off the next 
afternoon at the U. S. Shipping Commissioner's Of- 
fice in the Custom House. When I arrived there 
next day, there was quite a large crowd and I was 
glad my name was not Zeigler, for they paid off al- 
phabetically. I was paid $24.83 for twelve days of 
the best culinary training I had ever experienced 
and which was embellished with the best "eats" the 
ship contained. 

Within two hours I was a passenger on board 
the "Lark," the fast train between San Francisco 
and Los Angeles, bound for my home in Pasadena 
with a feeling that my objective had been well ac- 
complished, in seeing our beautiful Hawaii. 



THE END. 



118 Seeing Hawaii on American Pluck 
A SONG OF HAWAII 

To Mr. John Fisher Anderson 



By Dr. L. E. Capps, Honolulu 

Let me sing you a song of a wonderful land, 
Of the beautiful isles of Hawaii. 
Let me sing of a sun-kissed blue ocean that rolls, 
And the sand and the hills and the sky. 

And the slow swaying palm trees, that wave their high heads, 

In a welcoming, whispering nod ; 

Of the wondrous hibiscus, its glory and sweetness, 

Each day a new message from God. 

Let me sing of the great rugged hills, tow'ring up 
Like the famous old mountains of Rome, 
With their cool, shady forests, their feathery ferns; 
Of volcanic fires on a lava-topped dome. 

Of the clear gleaming stars in an indigo sky, 

Of the moon turning night into day, 

With its wonderful whiteness, its crystalline brightness, 

And charms that forever will stay. 

Let me sing of the Palis, and green sunlit valleys, 

The clear, cooling mist in the dell, 

Of the marvelous rainbows that arch while the sun glows, 

And often by moon's light as well. 

I would sing of a wonderful garden of flowers, 
With blossoming trees, showers of gold, pink and blue, 
Of roses and orchids, and cool fragrant bowers, 
Of night blooming wonders that scarcely seem true. 



A Song of Hawaii 119 

And the soft blowing wind and the waves as they roll, 
From the sea to the amber-hued strand ; 
Of the silvery, high flung, fleecy clouds, 
That lazily drift o'er this rainbow land. 

And there 'neath the soft, blue, sunny skies, 
Lies old Waikiki Beach like a golden band, 
A wedding ring for the queen of the seas, 
That old Neptune gave when he won her hand. 



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